Last Sacrifice: The Ending?
by MidnightShadowrush
Summary: Rose is being wrongly accused of a crime she didn't do and is in danger of being executed. What will she do to get out of it? What will happen with Dimitri? Read ahead to join Rose in her journey that Ambrose's aunt promised her!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Well this is a story I started when the boredom of summer started getting to me. Start reading and see what happens to Rose! This is my first fanfic so please show me some constructive criticism!**

**Enjoy!**

**Daisy**

**Chapter 1**

I lay in bed in my cell, staring at the ceiling but seeing nothing at all. So many thoughts were racing through my mind. The queen was dead and _I _was being blamed for it! (I don't know why, but I always managed to get tangled up in the wrong things). What did this mean? Someone was obviously trying to get me blamed for a murder I didn't commit, but _why?_ They wanted me out of the way, and for all I knew it could be Victor. I had been so _stupid_, how could I have let him get away so easily? Then again, we had been surrounded by Strigoi and Dimitri who had been Strigoi at the time.

_Dimitri_. Why had he been so resistant on me being a part of his life again? It caused me pain every time I thought about how he rejected me. _Love fades. Mine has_, he'd told me. Then he had gone and defended me against the guardians that took me away for 'my crime'.

And then there was the note the queen had written to me. Lissa's dad had conceived another child that no one was aware of. If this information were publicly known, then Lissa would be able to vote with all the other royal families.

All these thoughts kept circling in my head, jumbling together. Ugh, I was giving myself a headache. I wanted an escape, but going into Lissa's mind would only remind me of my problems. So I escaped the only way I could. I fell asleep.

When I woke up I was in a large beautiful meadow with grass as tall as my knees. A soft wind blew strands of my hair in my face and played with the hem of my dark blue sun dress. I had my usual bracelet with the nazar that my mother had given me, and I knew that Adrian would appear at any moment.

Just on queue Adrian spoke from behind me. "Hey Little Dhampir."

I turned around and faced him. He was wearing a pair of khaki slacks and a white button up shirt open just enough for me to see part of his chest. It brought back memories of when we had been so close to having sex.

When I didn't say anything, he spoke. "How are you doing?"

"How do you think?" I retorted, immediately regretting sounding so mean. "I'm sorry, it's just that I feel like crap right now and I thought that if I fell asleep I would be able to forget about all the problems at least for a bit."

"I'm sorry Little Dhampir, I can leave if you want," he offered, looking away from my face.

"No, no it's okay." I smiled at him. "So any news on when my trial is?" I asked.

"Nope, but don't worry Rose. We will get you out of this. Everything will be fine," he said, reaching for me and pulling me into a hug.

I rested my head on his chest and closed my eyes while he wrapped his arms around me. It felt so nice being with Adrian, like warm summer sun on my skin. But then I remembered Dimitri and that passionate fire that he made me feel. These feelings were so confusing. I should just forget about Dimitri and focus on moving on and being with Adrian. But I was just hurting Adrian, I couldn't give him all of my heart because Dimitri had all of it.

I sighed, "Adrian—"

"Shh, don't say anything. We'll talk when you get out or I come visit you in the slammer. Which ever comes first," Adrian said. I nodded and he kissed the top of my head, "sweet dreams little damphir".

When I woke up (for real this time), my neck and back were in pain. The sorry excuse for a bed had made my hole body hurt. I wondered what time it was and I decided to ask one of the guards outside my cell. I got up and walked over to the bars.

"Hey guy," I said. He didn't even look at me. "Hello, I'm talking to you," I said waving my hand. He turned slightly toward me but then looked away.

"Hey I know you hear me! I just want to know what time it is," I told him.

"What do you need to know the time for? Planning on going to kill someone else?" he responded.

"Excuse me?" I asked aghast. "You have no right to talk to me that way, especially when I'm being falsely accused." This guy would regret getting on my bad side.

Just then another guardian walked in, stopping the other guy from telling me anything else.

"Hathaway, you have a visitor," the other guardian informed and then stepped aside. Standing behind him was my best friend Lissa, looking very concerned for me.

"Lissa, what are you doing here?" I asked. "I never thought they would actually let you see me, the queen's murderer," I said jokingly, trying to lighten up the mood, but Lissa didn't crack a smile.

"Rose, don't say those kinds of things. People could take it the wrong way," she said disapprovingly.

"I know, I know. I'll watch what I say more carefully."

"Rose, how are you doing?"

"Fine," I mumbled, looking down.

"How are you really doing?"

"Are you referring to me being locked up in a cell or Dimitri refusing to have me back in his life?"

"Both"

I sighed, "Well I don't know what you want me to tell you Liss. Being in here sucks. I have nothing to do and I'm afraid that I'll be found guilty for something I didn't do." Tears were starting to form in my eyes. "And to top it all of, Dimitri doesn't want me back in his life and he told me that he doesn't love me anymore. I suffered so much to bring him back and now he's pushing me away!" Tears were falling freely now, running down my cheeks and splashing on the floor.

"Rose, I'm so sorry for everything. I never thought Dimitri would react this way after being turned back. I'll talk to him and try to make him reason. And you know we'll do anything and everything possible to get you out of here," she said with fervor.

Just then a guard walked in. "Your time is up Princess".

"I'll see you later Liss," I told her, wiping away the tears with the back of my hand.

"Don't worry Rose, I'll fix everything," she said as she was leaving. "If it's the last thing I do, I'll make everything right."

She had told me that once and the outcome had not been good. I hoped she didn't do anything reckless this time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Your comments made me smile :) So happy fourth of july to everyone who celebrates it! Last chapter I forgot to give a shout out to my beta Maibel, or otherwise known as mari1992.**

**Thanks everyone and enjoy!**

**Daisy**

**Chapter 2**

I lay in my bed again, bored and going crazy with worry. So I decided to check in on Lissa. She was in the café where I had been taken away, sitting across from Dimitri. My heart started racing immediately when I saw him.

"How are you doing Dimitri?" Lissa asked.

"I'm fine Princess," he responded.

"Call me Lissa, please. And really? So no more self torment or anything like that?" she questioned.

"It's getting easier to cope but that regret is still in me. Thinking about all those people that I hurt and killed. The look of confusion and fright right before I took their life haunts me when I close my eyes. And worst of all is remembering how I treated Roza. How I treated her like a, a…" Dimitri looked down, not being able to finish the sentence.

"Like a…blood whore," she said slowly. Lissa was the only one I had told about what had happened between me and Dimitri when he was a Strigoi.

He slowly looked up. "Yes. And I don't know how she can stand to look at me without feeling disgust or anger. How she can still want me to be part of her life again."

After a few seconds Lissa spoke. "Dimitri, you have to know that Rose loves you with all her heart. That is why she can still look at you without feeling disgust or remorse, and you pushing her away is the only thing that is hurting her. She fought hard for you to come back. I think the least she deserves it to be involved in your life again."

"I can't," he said with such agony in his eyes that it broke my heart. "I just can't do it Lissa. It hurts too much to see her."

I couldn't take it anymore so I snapped out of Lissa's head. He felt remorse when he saw me? Well how great to know that I caused those feelings in Dimitri. But if that was the reason that he didn't want to see me, did that mean that he stilled loved me? I knew that I was desperately searching for hope, but I needed all the hope I could get in here.

After a while my stomach started grumbling. When were they planning on feeding me? Of course I should have been worried about more important things like how the hell I was going to get out of this, but hey, a girl has to eat. So I decided to ask the guardian with the stick up his ass.

"Hey guy, when do I get food?" I asked.

He glanced at me sideways. "You'll get the food when it comes."

I sighed. "Are we going to start this again?" I asked annoyed.

Just then I heard a voice. "She's my client and I may see her when I wish. I do not care about your visiting hours." Good grace, Abe was either going to get me into more trouble or get himself locked up with me.

He approached my cell and asked, "How are you doing?"

"Why does everyone ask me that? Is it supposed to be a rhetorical question or something?" I replied.

Abe chuckled. "Still as feisty as ever."

I smiled. "So old man, are you here to bust me out?"

"That would be too obvious and incriminating," Abe said. "No, I work in more mysterious and obscure ways." He turned around and whispered something to the guardian. Whatever he said, it made the guardian move away from my cell.

He turned to me and lowered his voice. "I have everything worked out _Kiz_. Just go with what is happening and don't question anything. It's better if you know as little as possible so I'm just telling you this much: when it happens, the person will whisper the secret word in your ear and you do whatever he says. Do you understand?"

I stared at him baffled. "A secret word," I said slowly. "Are you kidding me?"

Abe looked impatient. "I am being serious _Kiz_".

"Fine, fine. So what's the secret word?" I asked.

He looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Lokum".

"What does that mean?" I wondered if it meant something like secret spy or fighting machine.

"It is a Turkish candy more commonly known as Turkish delight," he answered.

"It's a candy? Zmey, couldn't you choose a cooler word?"

He smiled sheepishly. "It's my favorite candy." He looked down at his watch and then sighed. "I must go now _Kiz_. I have some business to attend to."

I smiled. "Alright, but don't get me or yourself into any more trouble."

He smiled and reached inside my cell to grab my hand. He brought it up to his lips and kissed it. "Don't worry _Kiz_, everything is going to be alright."

"Thanks," I said.

He stepped back and was about to leave when he turned around and said, "I've arranged for them to bring you some food in a few minutes."

"Oh you do know me," I said delighted.

He nodded and left. I remained there, staring at the door he had gone through. He barely even knew me, and yet he cared for me so much. He would give me the world if I wanted it.

That night after eating the food that Abe had promised me, I fell into a dreamless sleep. Only to be awakened by someone's hand over my mouth. My eyes immediately flew open and my first reaction was to scream, but I knew better than that. Maybe this was what Abe had planned. The cell was pitch dark and I couldn't see a thing, not even with my keen dhampir vision. There was no noise either. No sound of a struggle or fight.

Then the person whispered so close to my ear that I felt their warm breath, "Lokum." As soon as they reached down to whisper in my ear, the smell of after shave hit me. He continued, "I'm going to place a pair of night vision goggles over your eyes so you can see. Then follow me out," he said, letting go of my mouth after he felt (or I guess saw me) relax and knew I wouldn't start screaming.

I nodded and he placed the goggles over my eyes. It was amazing; I could see everything perfectly. Just like in the movies everything was in a shade of green. I looked at Dimitri, and there he stood tall, dark and handsome as ever. My heart gave a slight squeeze at his sight.

He looked at me and whispered, "Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be comrade," I replied.

He nodded and said, "Follow me."

The cell door was open and the guardians that were supposed to be guarding me were on the floor unconscious. Dimitri had been quiet and effective, but I couldn't have expected anything less from him.

We walked out slowly, prepared for any encounters. When we reached the end of the hallway, Dimitri opened the door slowly.

"Stay behind me and if I tell you to run, you run," he whispered.

"Okay," I whispered back.

Dimitri went out first and motioned for me to stop. When he was sure that it was empty, he motioned for me to go to him. There were countless guardians on the floor, not dead hopefully. I didn't want any more people dying because of me.

Dimitri opened another door which led into another hallway. I couldn't remember coming in through this hallway so I assumed we were going out of the building through the back. The hallway made a sharp right and then a left. We were hurrying now, afraid that we might be caught.

When we reached another door Dimitri opened it carefully. Outside waiting for us were four guardians. I immediately tensed up, preparing to run away as fast as I could or fight for my life.

***Gasp* Who could it be? Well I guess you'll have to read the next chapter to see! Don't worry, I'll post it up soon lol**

**Don't forget to review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys hope all of you enjoyed your weekend! I had a blast and I even came out in my town's 4 of july parade! As always thanks to those of you who reviewed and to my beta Maribel!**

**Enjoy,**

**Daisy**

**Chapter 3**

I was preparing to attack the closest guardian when he spoke. "I presume everything went according to plan?"

"Yes," Dimitri responded.

"Good, then you must leave now before we get caught." He pointed to a car behind him, "The car is ready to go and the guardian at the gates will let you go through."

Dimitri nodded and got into the driver's seat while I went around and sat in the passenger's side.

"Good luck," the guardian said before Dimitri rolled up the windows and took off.

Just as promised, the guardian at the gates let us through without a problem.

"Where are we going?" I asked Dimitri.

"Somewhere far away where they will not find us," he said.

_Us. _I liked the sound of that, _us,_ but I shouldn't even be thinking about that. He didn't love me anymore and he was only doing this because I had saved him. Thinking about what he told me at the church brought a fresh wave of pain. But I shouldn't be thinking about this. Right now I needed to concentrate on where we could be headed to. We were most likely going out of the country, a place where it would be hard to find us.

"Somewhere that's remote and isolated?" I asked Dimitri.

"Yes," he said.

"Like…Siberia?" I asked. At the mention of Siberia, Dimitri tensed. It probably brought back memories of when he had held me captive. "I'm sorry. I won't ask any more questions." I didn't want to get him upset when he had just risked himself for me. There was so much tension in the small space between us that you could cut it with a knife.

After a while Dimitri spoke, keeping his eyes on the road. "We will go to Baia with my family. We will not stay long; we have to keep moving to make it harder for them to find us."

"Thank you," I said.

He glanced at me sideways. "For what?"

"For this," I said. "For getting me out. How did you get involved in my escape?"

He continued looking at the road. "Abe came to me after he found out I was discharged. I knew I was never going to be a guardian again but," he shook his head, "hearing it made it official. So I was ordered to go live my life in the human world. That's when Abe came and asked me to help you escape and take you with my family. If anyone else suddenly disappeared people would become suspicious. I was already leaving anyways so my leaving wouldn't be questioned."

I didn't say anything, I just stared at him. He seemed to be opening up to me again, but he was still distant.

Then he interrupted my thoughts by speaking. "And you don't have to thank me. You saved me too." He looked at me then but I couldn't quite pin-point the emotion I saw in his eyes. Sadness, gratefulness, love? As quickly as he had looked at me he looked away.

After that we didn't speak until we reached the airport where Abe's private jet was waiting for us. I was expecting to see Abe inside the jet but he wasn't there. The interior had 12 plush leather seats, and every four seats faced each other with tables between them. In the back there was a mini bar equipped with many different wines and alcohols, but the bartended was nowhere to be seen.

I sat in the first seat I saw, immediately feeling tired and run down after the adrenaline rush. The 'bed' in my cell had been so horrible and compared to it, this chair felt like heaven.

I was hoping that Dimitri would sit next to me, but instead he took the seat across from me. I looked at him, taking in all his features I thought I would never get to see again: his peaceful look, his tan skin, his shoulder length hair, and above all his warm bottomless brown eyes without the red ring. At that moment he turned and caught me staring at him. I quickly turned away, embarrassed that I'd been caught. I didn't dare look at him again so I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

A couple of hours later I woke up and had a moment of disorientation before I remembered that I was on the jet. I looked up and saw Dimitri staring at me. We just sat there staring into each other's eyes without saying anything. What was he thinking? Not knowing was driving me crazy.

I was about to say something when a flight attendant came out of the cockpit and said, "We will be landing shortly in Omsk." She smiled and quickly left.

I turned back to Dimitri who was still staring at me. What was he looking at? Did I have something in my face? I stood up and went to the bathroom to freshen up. When I got out of the bathroom I was hit with a massive headache. Damn, I had forgotten all about the safety of the wards. I guess since I had been sleeping I hadn't felt the pain. I closed my eyes and took in a few breaths before I went back to my seat.

When I put a hand on my lap I felt something in my pocket and quickly remembered the queen's note. Shit, how was I supposed to look for Lissa's brother when I was going to be in hiding? The queen had said to only share the information with a few people I could trust. Even if he didn't love me anymore, I still trusted Dimitri with my life.

"Dimitri," I said. "I need to tell you something."

His forehead creased slightly with uncertainty. "What is it Rose?"

"That day when the court decided that I would go on trial for the queen's murder, Ambrose, the queen's lover, gave me a note. It was from the queen."

Dimitri's eyes widened. I reached inside my pocket and took out the note. Then I handed the note to Dimitri and watched as he read it.

He looked up when he was finished. "Have you told anyone about this?"

"No, you're the first person I've told," I said.

He looked back down to the note and his brows creased deep in thought.

"How am I going to find him or her if I'm going to be on the run?" I asked. "I don't know where to start looking."

"For now, we can't go anywhere except my house." He was silent for a few seconds then said, "You should tell Abe. He has connections and maybe he can dig up a trail for us to follow."

I nodded. "How do I contact him?"

"He said he would be checking in when he got things settled down at the court. He was going to make sure that no one got leads on you and instead send them on a wild goose chase."

When we got off the jet we were escorted to an SUV that would be taking us to Baia. Only two guardians came along with us and they both sat in the front, so Dimitri and I sat in the back together. The sun had set and it made me a little paranoid of a possible Strigoi attack.

We were almost in Baia when we saw a man lying on the middle of the road. A wave of nausea hit me just as the two guardians got out to help the man.

"Stop!" I yelled at them, but I was too late. I could already see the Strigoi coming from the shadows, zeroing in on them.

**Oh-oh, someone's gonna get hurt...or are they? I guess you'll have to wait and see! **

**Reviews are always welcome so don't hesitate to leave them ^_^**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks again guys for the reviews! Your reviews inspire me write more :) so here is ch.4 for you!**

**Enjoy,**

**Daisy**

**Chapter 4**

They were surrounded by a group of Strigoi while the man on the floor got up. He had been a decoy to stop us. Dimitri and I quickly jumped out of the car to help the other guardians.

I attacked the first Strigoi I saw. He turned around and tried to hit me in the face but I grabbed his arm and threw him to the floor. I had perfect view of his chest and I was about to stake him when another one grabbed me from behind and threw me off him.

The land on the floor knocked the air out of me but I recuperated quickly. I got up and started fighting the one that had thrown me on the floor. In a matter of seconds I had him staked and I was fighting with my first Strigoi. When I had killed him I looked around and saw that the other Strigoi were dead except for one that Dimitri was fighting.

I was so absorbed by their fight that I didn't notice a Strigoi approaching me until Dimitri yelled to me. "Roza watch out!"

I started to turn around but I was too late. The Strigoi tackled me to the floor and I hit my head on the ground. Pain shot through my skull and I saw stars in my vision. He was looking down at me menacingly, smiling with his red glowing eyes.

"We've been looking for you Hathaway," was all he said before he leaned down and started drinking from me. I don't know what happened after that because I blacked out, welcoming the numbness and darkness.

I woke up feeling groggy and with a killer headache.

"Ow," I grunted.

"She's waking up," someone said.

I slowly opened my eyes to see that I was lying on a bed surrounded by people. Dimitri's family to be more exact.

Olena put a hand on my forehead. "How are you feeling Rose?"

"Fine, except for this major headache that I have," I said.

"Well Dimka said you took quite a blow to the head." She smiled, "You always seem to come to me in a bad condition." Everyone in the room, including me, laughed.

I looked over to Dimitri who was looking intently but saying nothing. He was probably just happy to see his family again.

"Oh Rose, thank you so much from bringing him back to us," Olena said. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it. "I don't know how we can ever repay you." Tears were falling slowly down her cheeks.

"Olena, please don't say that. There is nothing you have to repay." Tears of my own were threatening to start flowing.

Just then a baby started crying. Sonya stood up and walked over to me. She hugged me and thanked me before leaving the room.

We kept talking for a while, just catching up on what had happened since we had last seen each other. After a while I started getting sleepy and Olena seemed to notice because she got up as if to leave.

"If you need anything, please don't hesitate to yell Rose," she said before leaving the room.

The only one left was Dimitri who looked like he was about to say something, but instead left. Once alone in the room I looked around and took in my surroundings. I was in the room where I had stayed last time I was here. I looked down at my clothes and noticed that I was still in my ripped and bloodied clothes. I would have to ask them for some clothes later, but now I would get some rest.

I woke up to someone shaking my arm and was startled to see another pair of eyes staring at me.

"Babushka Olena said to come down to eat dinner," a little boy said. Paul was his name if I remembered correctly.

I smiled at him. "Um, yeah okay. I'll be down in a couple of minutes."

He smiled back at me and left the room.

I pulled back the covers and stood up. A little too quickly, I believe, because I fell to the floor.

I felt a pair of strong arms pulling me up. "Are you okay?"

I looked up to see Dimitri. The place where his hands were touching me felt like it was on fire. "Yeah I just…stood up too fast."

He nodded and let me go. "I brought some clothes for you to change into," he said while he handed me the clothes. Then without saying anything else he turned around and left.

I sighed. Having him so close but not being able to touch him and love him was the worst pain ever. It even hurt more than when he was a Strigoi, because I knew the reason we weren't together now was because he didn't love me anymore.

I pushed those thoughts out of my head and went to go change in the bathroom. They had given me a pair of jeans and a yellow t-shirt which fit me pretty good. They must be Viktoria's, I thought.

I went downstairs to the kitchen to find the whole family eating. I stayed in the doorway observing them. I had never had a family like this, not even a family at all. The closest I had come to it was Lissa's family who had all died. I had always yearned for some kind of affection from my mother that I rarely saw.

I was lost in my thoughts until Olena spoke to me. "Come sit down and eat Rose."

I took the open seat next to Viktoria. "Hey," I told her.

She smiled at me. "Hey."

"Are you still mad at me?" I asked her.

"No, I'm glad you did stop me that night. It would have been a big mistake," she said.

"You'll find someone who loves you and who will treat you right," I told her.

"That's what we all pray for," is all she said before starting to eat.

Everyone in the table was having their own separate conversation. I was glad to see how happy they all were to have Dimitri back. I was looking at the food, not sure what it was and not sure what to get.

Viktoria noticed and smiled. "Right in front of you is the _pelmeni_ which is like a dumpling filled with meat, spices, and onions. Next to it are the _pirozhki_ which are bread filled with sautéed cabbage. And last we have _olivje_ which is a potato salad with pickles, capers, olives, hard-boiled eggs, and peas."

All the food sounded good to me so I got some of each. Everything was delicious, but of course I couldn't have expected anything less from Olena.

"These are Dimka's favorite dishes," Olena said smiling.

"I see why," I said.

After dinner I offered to help clean up but Olena insisted that I catch up with Viktoria instead. So I tagged along behind Viktoria to her room. It was small but cute, decorated with posters of bands and pictures of her with her family and friends. I walked around looking at them while she sat on her bed. Her room had belonged to Dimitri before he had left. I had imagined him so many times in here the last time I came to visit.

"So Rose, how are things between you and my brother?" she asked.

I didn't know what to say. It felt awkward to discuss my (or lack thereof) relationship with Dimitri's sister.

"Um, well we're not really…dating anymore," I responded, not really sure of what to say.

"Why? What happened?" she asked.

"Look I don't really want to talk about it right now." I didn't want to break down in front of her.

"Oh it's ok. But if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here," she said with a smile.

I gave her a small smile. "Thanks. That's nice to know."

We talked for a little while and then I decided to head off to bed, but before I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. When I was close to the kitchen I heard voices.

"I'm so glad we have you back Dimka," Olena said. "We missed you so much."

"Yes Mama, I missed all of you too," Dimitri said.

"How are things with Rose?" Olena asked.

Dimitri sighed but didn't say anything.

"What's going on Dimka?"

"It's all ruined Mama," Dimitri said. "I hurt her so much. I don't know how she can ever forgive me."

"Dimka, you must know that she loves you very much. She sacrificed and risked a lot to bring you back to us," Olena said. "Do you love her Dimka?"

I held my breath, anxious to hear his response. How I wished he would say yes.

**Hmm I wonder what his response will be...you'll find out soon enough lol**

**I had a question for you readers: do you prefer long chapters, short chapters or somewhere in the middle?**

**Just so I know how to continue with the story :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone! I know I've been posting chapters each day, but I don't think thats going to be happening anymore. The reason being that when I started posting chapters I already had the first few chapters done. Now it will depend on how fast I can get them to my beta and how fast she can correct them. I'll try to make them longer to make up for the longer wait. Anyways, here is chapter 5.**

**Enjoy!**

**Daisy :)**

**Chapter 5**

Just as Dimitri was about to answer, someone spoke behind me.

"It's not nice to listen to other people's conversations."

I turned around to face Yeva, Dimitri's grandmother. She still looked as frightening as ever with her frail body and alert eyes.

"Uh," was all I said.

"So you did bring him back," Yeva said. "Of course I already knew you would."

I looked at her, not sure how to respond. This woman was intimidating and not just because she was a witch. There was something to her aura that made her frightening. Like a people repellent.

"You have a visitor waiting in the living room," she said before turning around and leaving.

I started walking toward the living room, curious to see who it was. When I got there I saw Abe sitting down in a couch.

"How are things at court?" I asked.

"Everyone is shocked that the queen's murderer escaped," he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "So I trust that everything went smoothly when you got out?"

"Yup. How's Lissa?" I asked.

"She is doing fine. She was surprised when she heard that you were gone. She was actually planning an escape for you," he said with a chuckle.

"What?" I said. "Did you just say that she was planning and escape for me?"

"Yes, but of course I beat her to it. Now she doesn't have to get incriminated."

"That's good," I said calming down. I sat down on the couch and remembered the queen's note. I took it out and handed it to Abe.

"What's this?" he asked.

"A note from the queen. She wrote it before she was killed," I said.

Abe looked back at the note and read it. When he was done he looked up to me. "Who else have you told?"

"Just Dimitri," I said.

Just then Dimitri entered the room. "Abe," he said. "I didn't expect to see you so soon."

"Yes, well I came to tell you two that you need to leave," Abe said. "You cannot risk being here too long because there are Dhampirs and Moroi aware that the Rose is an outlaw. I have set up a cabin on the outskirts where it will be far away that no one will see you, but close enough that Dimitri can come into town to get things when necessary."

"I understand," said Dimitri. "When should we leave?"

"I would say tomorrow during daylight to avoid any Strigoi attacks," Abe said. "The house has been set up with wards all around it so you will be safe. And don't worry _Kiz,_ I'll get my best men looking for information on this brother of Lissa's. As soon as I know something I will contact you two."

He got up and gave me a hug. "Be careful _Kiz_."

"Of course I will," I said. "When aren't I careful?"

He smiled. "Right." He turned to Dimitri and gave him a paper before he shook his hand. "See you soon, and take care of her for me."

"You can count on it," Dimitri said with a nod.

Right before Abe left he turned around. "I almost forgot, I brought you some of your belongings _Kiz,_" he said pointing to a bag on the floor that I hadn't noticed.

After Abe left we went to bed. I offered Dimitri the room but he insisted that he would stay in the living room on one of the couches. I gave up trying to convince him, I knew he would never budge. So I went off to bed and fell asleep.

I woke up a lush garden with a fountain in the middle. This was one of Adrian's dreams, he would come out soon. I turned around and there he was in his usual clothes and messy hair.

"Hey Little Dhampir," he said grinning.

"Hey," I said back.

"So you managed to escape."

"Yeah, sorry you couldn't come visit me in the slammer," I said with a mock sad face.

"I'd rather see you outside than inside," he said. "So do you miss me?" he asked. He reached out and took me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around him and didn't say anything. He started leaning down as if to kiss me but I pulled away.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Adrian, I think it would be better if we ended our relationship," I said.

"Why?"

"I think it would be better for both of us if it ended. I don't want you to get incriminated or something because of me." I was looking in his eyes for a reaction, hoping he would understand.

"It's that cradle robbing Russian isn't it?" he said.

"What? No," I said. "It's not like that." I looked down from his face. "He doesn't love me anymore."

He lifted up my chin with his finger. "Then why are you ending our relationship?"

"I just think it would be best if you found someone that was actually good for you. It's never going to work out for us Adrian. It will end sooner or later and I rather it be sooner than later when it will be harder." I was holding his hand while I said this.

He squeezed my hand. "We can make it work Little Dhampir, I know we can."

"Adrian, please don't make this harder than it is. I do love you, but it will never be enough to match what you feel for me."

He let go of my hand and reached up to cup my face. "I will always be here for you Little Dhampir," he said. Then softly he brushed his lips against mine before disappearing out of the dream.

In the morning I went to Viktoria's room to say goodbye. I told her we were leaving but that we weren't going too far away. After that I sought out each of Dimitri's sisters until I had said goodbye to everyone. Everyone except Olena. I was looking for her when I heard voices in a hallway.

"Life is short, don't waste it," Yeva said. "You have been through a lot and I know you are suffering, but there are many better things to come. Don't shy away from your future."

I felt bad for intruding so I left. Damn, I needed to stop eavesdropping on conversations! I continued my search for Olena when I found her in the kitchen. She was cooking something that smelled delicious.

"Good morning Olena," I said.

She turned around with a smile. "Good morning Rose. Are you hungry?"

"Of course I am," I said. "Don't you know me by now?"

She chuckled. "Take a seat and I'll serve you."

She sat down with me while I ate, keeping a conversation of town gossip or telling me stories of when Dimitri was small.

"Rose, I know things are rough right now between the two of you, but just give him time. He'll come around. I'm sure of it," she said reaching out to grab my hand.

"Thank you," I said.

Just then Dimitri walked in, taking in the scene before talking. "Mama, we must go now."

"But you just got here Dimka," she said.

"I know Mama, but don't worry. We will be back soon enough."

"Okay but take the leftover food from yesterday. I know it's your favorite."

"Yes Mama, we'll take it," replied Dimitri with gratefulness in his voice.

After getting everything ready we were in the living room saying goodbyes. While Dimitri was talking to his family, Yeva came over to me.

"You are afraid," she said.

I was going to respond but she stopped me. "Don't be. One is born to die. Do not fear death, you are tied to it. You must follow your destiny. Embrace it with all your might. Only then will you be free."

Then she walked away to join the rest of the family. I stood there thinking about what she had just told me. Her words had shaken me up a lot because they had hit so close to home, but the last part still befuddled me. What could she mean with those words?

**Hmm I wonder what Yeva means...**

**Hope you guys enjoyed!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello everyone! Sorry to keep you waiting. So who is excited about this possible VA movie? I think it could turn out awesome if in the right hands :) If you guys have a facebook account be sure to add the official vampire academy movie page! Anyways I made this chapter longer than the others just for you guys! oh and thanks for the reviews!**

**Enjoy,**

**Daisy**

**Chapter 6**

After saying goodbye to Dimitri's family we took off in a car that Abe had left us. It was a black Mercedes with tinted windows and a luxury leather interior. I think Abe had said the model was called S600 Guard or something like that. He had also given Dimitri directions on how to get there and a cell phone to call him in case we needed anything.

Throughout the car ride, Yeva's words kept circling in my mind, confusing me and slightly frightening me at the same time.

Dimitri was the first to break the silence. "Can I ask you something Rose?"

"Uh, sure." I wonder what he wanted to ask me.

"I don't mean to impose or suggest anything that will offend you," he said taking a slight pause, "but why is Abe Mazur helping you? And he seems to care a lot about you."

I stayed quiet, not sure how to answer his question. Maybe I should just tell him, I thought. Not many people knew but I wasn't sure if it was something Abe wanted to keep a secret.

I was debating whether or not to tell him when he interrupted my thoughts. "Never mind, you don't have to tell me."

I sighed. "Abe is…my father."

He looked at me then, doing that cool one eyebrow thing. "Your father?"

"Yup. Now we know who I get my wicked cool hair from," I said pointing to my head.

His lips twitched slightly and I saw an emotion flash through his eyes that reminded me of his old self. After our conversation we didn't speak for the rest of the car ride, but it wasn't an awkward silence. It was the kind of silence that felt comfortable, like you didn't have an obligation to start a conversation.

I was expecting the cabin to look like the ones back at 's, but instead I stood in front of a three story log house. The outside of the house had plants and grass that were perfectly manicured and a half circle driveway. The exterior of the first story was covered in stone and the other two stories were log. The left side of the house had stone steps that headed to an outside deck on the second floor. Behind the house were a separate garage that fit who knows how many cars, and a small forest.

I stood there with my mouth slightly open in awe and turned to Dimitri who had a similar expression to mine. After standing there like idiots for about five minutes we decided to go check out the inside of the house.

I almost expected to see deer heads mounted on the wall but instead was faced with a fully furnished interior that reminded me of the ski resort we stayed in during winter break. I took a tour through the whole house and looked inside every room. There were a total of five bedrooms, two living rooms, four bathrooms, a library and a huge kitchen. I wondered why Abe had such a big house if he just lived by himself.

In the kitchen I found a note:

_Kiz, I hope you have all the accommodations needed to feel at home without losing your mind with boredom. Don't worry though, you will be moving to a different place shortly. I have set up the room on the third floor for you to stay in._

_I'll see you soon,  
Abe_

_P.S. If that Russian puts a hand on you, don't hesitate on kicking his butt._

The note made me smile and after reading it I set off to my room. The room was huge and in the middle it had a bed that could probably fit ten people. It also had a bathroom that had a Jacuzzi tub and a separate shower. The closet could have probably been used as a room itself. I set my bag on the bed and headed down stairs.

I decided to lounge in one of the living rooms which thankfully had a large flat screen television. I turned on the TV and started flipping through the channels. Many of them were in Russian but I managed to find some in English. Dimitri was nowhere to be seen and I was starting to get bored so I decided to check in on Lissa.

She was sitting on the floor in her room and across from her was Adrian. Christian was sitting on her bed watching.

"You have to concentrate," Adrian said.

"I _am_ concentrating," Lissa said. "This is so frustrating! I'm worried about Rose and this is the only way I can contact her but I can't do it!"

Christian came up behind her and started rubbing her shoulders. "It's okay Lissa, don't stress on it. You're only making it harder for you to do it when you stress," he said.

She closed her eyes and let out a breath. "I know," she said standing up, "I just need some fresh air."

She left the room and started wandering around, going nowhere in particular. She was still mentally chastising herself for not being able to walk dreams. Adrian could do it easily and he had even learned how to heal. If Adrian could do both, why couldn't she?

Then just as she turned a corner she heard a conversation between a man and a woman.

"I can't believe she actually escaped!" the woman said.

"I've heard rumors that Victor Dashkov helped her escape and that they fled to South America," said the man.

"I don't care where she is. I just hope they catch that murdering blood whore! I mean, have you heard the stories they tell about her and all those Moroi boys back at her school?" said the woman.

"I bet she killed the queen because she didn't want anything to stand between her and that Ivashkov boy. She probably wanted to stay with all their money or something."

Lissa had been getting angrier by the second and by now her blood was boiling with fury. She had already been mad and their conversation had just made it worse.

She turned and faced them. "Stop saying those things about her," she said slowly.

"What? The stuff about her being a blood whore? Well it's the truth," said the woman.

"No it's not, they're all lies." Without knowing it, Lissa was using compulsion on the both of them. "Rose is not with Victor and she is not a blood whore."

"But we heard…" the man started but didn't finish.

Lissa was using all her compulsion power to make them believe and she was getting angrier and weaker at the same time.

Just then Christian came up behind her. "Lissa stop!"

"No, they have to believe."

"But they do believe. You can stop now."

I took the darkness from her—it hit me like a wave of hot and cold at the same time.

I snapped out of her head to find Dimitri shaking me. "What is it Roza?"

The darkness within me stirred. "Nothing of your concern, now is it Dimitri?"

"What is that suppose to mean?"

"Exactly what it says." The anger was starting to build up within in me, but it was my own anger.

"Are you saying that I don't care about you? Then why in the world do you think I'm here?"

"I don't know, why don't you tell me Dimitri? Did my dad make you do it? Or do you just feel so obligated to do it because I brought you back! But ,of course, you _should_ feel obligated. I went through _hell_ to get you back!"

He just stood there looking at me, not knowing how to respond so I continued. "Do you know how it feels to lose the person you love the most? It tore me apart when I found out that you had been turned. But what hurt the most was when I thought I had killed you. It shattered my heart and I wanted to die with you on that bridge. But I guess you don't care anymore because you don't love me."

"I'm sorry," he said.

"I'm sorry? Why are you even here Dimitri? Go back to your family. I don't need you to take care of me and you know it!" By now I was screaming at him but he didn't even flinch.

"Roza, I know this is not you." He was reaching out to touch my arm but I smacked it away.

I didn't know why but a sudden urge to fight took over me. There was so much darkness and anger and sadness within me that I couldn't take it anymore. I needed an escape so I took it out on Dimitri.

I swung my foot to kick him in his side but he caught my leg. I pulled it back and punched him in the face. His face recoiled back but he didn't hit me. All he did was dodge my hits.

"Roza I'm not going to hit you," he said.

"Well then you're going to get your ass kicked," I snap back.

I lunged at him again but this time he was ready. He caught me and pressed me up against the wall with the full-force of his body. He had a hold of both my hands and had them secured behind my back.

"Let go of me Dimitri," I warned.

"I'm not going to let you go until you are back to normal."

I tried to squirm out but his hold on me was too tight.

"You can do it Roza, you've done it before," he said.

In that moment I wanted nothing more than to hit him, but slowly the anger started fading. I started becoming more aware of my surroundings. Of how close Dimitri was to me, how I could feel every curve of his body pressed against mine. I looked up to his face where his warm brown eyes were filled with worry, then to his full lips that looked so inviting. I wondered how it would feel to kiss him again, after all that had happened.

I slowly closed the distance between us and pressed my lips against his. It felt like an electric current passed through my body and left me shaking. I expected him to pull back, but instead he pressed himself closer to me and secured me tighter against the wall. He let go of one of my hands and slowly made his way up my body to the back of my neck and knotted his fingers in my hair. He gently traced my lip with his tongue and I partly opened my mouth. Our tongues tangled in a delicate dance and I moved my free hand to grab a handful of his hair.

He pulled back and looked me straight in the eyes. "I do love you Roza."

"I missed you so, so much," I said.

Then we picked up where we left off with even more urgency. I used the wall as support and wrapped my legs around Dimitri's waist. We made our way up to my room on the third floor, almost falling over a couple of times. One by one our clothes found their way to the floor until we were completely naked. I traced the planes of his chest with my hands, memorizing every curve of his body while he did the same to me. Then our hips started moving in synch and I became absorbed in complete bliss. He was my other half that I had been missing for months, the other half that completed me. After we were done we lay there wrapped in each other's arms and fell asleep.

When I awoke, Dimitri was still asleep. I lay there just staring at his peaceful face, observing how his chest rose and fell with each breath he took. I reached out and started passing my hand through his silky soft hair.

He slowly opened his eyes and smiled. "Hey."

But I didn't smile back. Instead I lay there remembering the pain of when he had been turned and I was left alone. If he ever left again it would be the end of me.

His face started clouding with concern. "What is Roza?"

"Don't ever leave me again," I said quietly.

He reached over and cupped my face. "I won't leave Roza. Never again, I promise," he said bringing his lips to mine and erasing all my worries.

**So no cliffy this time, it was just fun to put those other ones hehehe**

**Chapter 7 will be posted up soon!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello my peeps! Now I know I made their reunion a little early but I thought Rose had suffered enough in the last two books. For those of you that want to know how the cabin looks I'll post a link to the picture in my profile :) I want to thank my beta who gave me a lot of good suggestions for this chapter and to all of you who keep reviewing! Oh and I always forget to put this but I dont own the characters, Richelle Mead owns all.**

**Enjoy!**

**Daisy**

**Chapter 7**

_1 week later_

I was sitting on the kitchen counter watching Dimitri cook breakfast.

"So what are you cooking? Some traditional Russian dishes with frog toes and fish eyes?" I said jokingly.

Dimitri chuckled. "I'm just making pancakes, but if you want I could cook you something with those ingredients you just mentioned."

I scrunched up my face. "No thanks Comrade."

"When are you going to stop calling me that?" asked Dimitri.

"Hmm." I pretended to think about it. "Never." I got off the counter and hugged Dimitri from the back. "Plus, you know you like it."

He turned around and put his arms around my waist. "Well maybe just a little," he said.

Then he reached down and started kissing me. The electricity shot through us again and the pace started picking up. Just as we were going to start getting hot and heavy, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," said Dimitri.

"How about we just let them hanging out there?"

"And what if it's your dad?" he said.

"Right," I said. "What are you doing here talking to me? Go get the door Comrade."

He smiled and gave me a quick peck before leaving. I went to the pancakes and made it look like I was cooking.

"_Kiz_ I didn't know you cooked," I heard behind me.

"Of course I cook," I said. "I'm the whole package."

Abe chuckled while Dimitri smiled and took my place with the pancakes.

"So what's up old man?"

"I got a lead on Lissa's brother."

"Really? So what did you find out?"

"Well I had my men look up information on Erik Dragomir's visits to Las Vegas and found out the name of the lady he visited so much. Her name is Lydia Davis and she moved to California a few years ago which is where you two will be going next."

"Wow." I couldn't believe Abe had actually found the mystery woman and knew where she was.

"She works in a liquor store in Santa Cruz. That's how far my men were able to track her. Now your job is to go over there and talk to her to find out as much as possible about her son."

"Where your men able to dig up anything else?" I asked.

"No that's all. This woman didn't leave much of a trail."

"We were lucky then that your men found out where she is."

Abe's cell started to ring just then. "Abe Mazur speaking" my father answered. The conversations didn't last even five minutes before he shut his cell and put it away.

"That was the people from the jet and they said that it will be ready to take off when you arrive." He handed me a key. "This key is for the beach house that you two will be staying in while you're over there."

"Do you have a house in every city in the world?" I asked.

"No, I just have a wide selection," he said chuckling.

We had breakfast then, eating the pancakes that Dimitri had made. It felt nice to eat and have a conversation with my dad and boyfriend. At that moment I felt the happiest I had felt in a long time. After a while we cleaned up and said our goodbyes to Abe before he left. Dimitri and I went to pack up and then we left the house.

When we arrived at the airstrip we took of immediately. This time Dimitri sat next to me and put his arm around my shoulder. I had a slight headache when we were up in the air but I slept it off. We landed on an airstrip in a town called Watsonville. From there Abe's chauffer drove us to Santa Cruz, which turned out to be a 20 minute drive with beautiful views of the ocean and trees. As we neared the house we passed by a small amusement park that was next to the ocean shore. The sign above it said it was called Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

I turned to Dimitri. "Maybe we can come to it later on," I said pointing to the boardwalk.

"If you want," he said smiling down at me.

The new house was smaller than the previous one we had stayed in but it was beautiful none the less. It was a square two story house that had a lot of windows and almost seemed to be made out of glass.

We decided to go out that night instead of staying home. Remembering the boardwalk, we made our way to that place that promised us some fun. It was full of tan blonde girls in bikinis with their tan surfing boyfriends in shorts. We walked around for a bit and then decided to go on a ride called the double shot. After strapping in to our seats we were blasted up and then fell until almost hitting the floor. The fall gave me a feeling of exhilaration in the pit of my stomach that I loved.

"How was that?" I asked Dimitri, smiling at his expression.

His eyes were wide and he looked out of breath. "Never make me go on that again," he said.

I laughed out loud. "Don't worry Mr. Macho, I won't even tell anyone about this."

After getting off we walked around some more then, stopping to eat some Dippin Dots and deciding to go on one final ride before we left.

Dimitri and I were wandering around trying to decide which ride would work for both when a song started blasting all around the boardwalk.

[Snoop Dogg]  
Greetings loved ones  
Let's take a journey

[Katy Perry]  
I know a place  
Where the grass is really greener  
Warm, wet and wild  
There must be something in the water  
Sippin' gin and juice  
Laying underneath the palm trees  
The boys  
Break their necks  
Try'na to creep a little sneak peek  
(at us)

You could travel the world  
But nothing comes close  
To the golden coast  
Once you party with us  
You'll be falling in love  
Oh oh oh oh oh oh

California girls  
We're unforgettable  
Daisy Dukes  
Bikinis on top  
Sun-kissed skin  
So hot  
Will melt your popsicle  
Oh oh oh oh oh oh

California girls  
We're undeniable  
Fine, fresh, fierce  
We got it on lock  
West coast represent  
Now put your hands up  
Oh oh oh oh oh oh

Sex on a beach  
We get sand in our stilettos  
We freak  
In my Jeep  
Snoop doggy dog on the stereo

You could travel the world  
But nothing comes close  
To the golden coast  
Once you party with us  
You'll be falling in love  
Oh oh oh oh oh oh

California girls  
We're unforgettable  
Daisy Dukes  
Bikinis on top  
Sun-kissed skin  
So hot  
Will melt your popsicle  
Oh oh oh oh oh oh

California girls  
We're undeniable  
Fine, fresh, fierce  
We got it on lock  
West coast represent  
Now put your hands up  
Oh oh oh oh oh oh

[Snoop Dogg]  
Tone Tan  
Fit and ready  
Turn it up cause its gettin' heavy  
Wild wild west coast  
These are the girls I love the most  
I mean the ones  
I mean like she's the one  
Kiss her  
Touch her  
Squeeze her

The girls a freak  
She drives a jeep  
The men on the beach  
I'm okay  
I won't play  
I love the bay  
Just like I love LA  
Venice beach  
And Palm Springs  
Summer time is everything

Come on boys  
Hanging out  
All that a-s  
Hanging out  
Bikinis, tankinis, martinis  
No weenies  
Just to get  
In betweeny  
Katy my lady  
(yeah)  
You looking here baby  
(uh huh)  
I'm all up on you  
Cause you representing California  
(ohhh yeahh)

[Katy Perry]  
California girls  
We're unforgettable  
Daisy Dukes  
Bikinis on top  
Sun-kissed skin  
So hot  
Will melt your popsicle  
Oh oh oh oh oh oh

California girls  
We're undeniable  
Fine, fresh, fierce  
We got it on lock  
West coast represent  
(West coast, west coast)  
Now put your hands up  
Oh oh oh oh oh oh

[Snoop Dogg]  
(California, California)  
California girls man  
I really wish you all could be  
California girls  
(California)

After the song ended I turned to Dimitri "So Comrade, do_ you_ wish I were a California girl?"

"Not for a thing my dearest Roza, I love you no matter what you are. Besides, you're already sun-kissed and hot," he said, looking straight in my eyes with his lust filled ones, before kissing me.

We came to a stop, seeing as there was a crowd of people all around us. We stopped at a ride that had a long line outside which implied that it would be good. Deciding this was the ride we wanted, we got in line. The Giant Dipper as it was called, did not let us down. It was a fun roller coaster that had been around for a century it said on a banner.

After asking the locals where to go eat we decided to go to a cute little restaurant on the wharf called Aldo's. There was a warm breeze coming in and a view of the sunset on the ocean that was breath taking. Everything on the menu looked delicious and I couldn't choose.

"What are you getting?" I asked Dimitri.

"I think I'm going to go with the fish and chips," he said looking up from his menu.

"Hmm." I took another look at the menu and decided to go with the spicy fish tacos.

The food was delicious and afterward we decided to go walking in the downtown district. There were an array of cute little shops and bars filled with crowds of people. We walked on the sidewalk hand in hand watching the people that passed by. I was enjoying myself so much that I started smiling to myself like a dork.

"What?" asked Dimitri looking down at me.

"It's just that I actually feel…_normal_ right now. I feel like I'm just a regular girl enjoying a night out in the town with her super hot Russian boyfriend," I say smiling up at him.

"I know what you mean. It almost feels like a vacation from all the stress and guarding. Right now I'm just enjoying a night out with my stunningly beautiful half Turkish girlfriend," he says looking down at me with one of those rare smiles that take my breath away.

We kept walking and soon the lights and crowds started becoming scarcer. My happy feelings from earlier quickly faded when that familiar nausea hit me.

I grabbed Dimitri's hand and stopped him. "There are Strigoi here," I said urgently.

We both tensed up, ready for a fight. There was a flash of movement in my peripheral vision and then there someone swinging at me. The guy was tall and he had short black hair that was a striking contrast to his pale skin and red eyes. I ducked and we became enthralled in a fight for our lives. I kicked him in his head as hard as I could and managed to make him waver. He came back at me and smacked me across the face. Pain shot through my head which only made me madder.

"Did that hurt Rose?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

Hearing him say my name shocked me. _Another_ Strigoi that new me. What the hell was going on?

"How do you know my name?"

"Everyone knows your name; you're the almighty Rose Hathaway."

"What are you doing Rose?" asked Dimitri next to me.

I turned to Dimitri to answer him but that was a mistake. As soon as I looked away the Strigoi lunged for me again. Dimitri saw it coming though and was quick to ward him off.

"Hold him so we can question him!" I yelled at Dimitri.

Following my command Dimitri caught the Strigoi, pinning him to the ground with his hands behind his back.

"Who sent you?" I asked.

"I won't tell you anything!" he reproached.

"Oh really? Well maybe this will make you talk," I said and kicked him in the face.

He growled with anger. "Are you ready to talk now?" I said. But he just continued to give me the death glare, so I took out my stake and put it next to his face. "Speak."

"You'll get nothing from me," he spat.

I cut his face then with the stake and he yelled out in pain. "Tell me!" I yelled.

His nostrils flared with anger and I could see it flash through his eyes. "He has all the Strigoi looking out for you; he has us on high alert. If we kill you he'll give us a great reward."

"He? Who is he?" I said.

He smiled then, his frighteningly malicious smile. "The queen's murderer."

My whole body went numb. So the queen's murderer _did_ want me dead. "What—what's his name?" I asked, my voice faltering a bit.

"You'll never find out" he said, managing to push off Dimitri who had also been engrossed in the conversation. He made a run for it then but Dimitri tackled him down and staked him in the chest.

"Damn it," I said.

Dimitri came back to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry about. Let me just make a quick phone call so they can come clean this up and then we can leave."

I nodded and remained standing there while Dimitri made his phone call. Who would be trying to kill me? The only suspect that came to mind was Victor, but for what reason could he want me out of the picture?

"Let's move the bodies to that alley," said Dimitri pointing to one just to the side.

I nodded and helped him move the bodies. We, or actually Dimitri, had killed four Strigoi in total.

When we got home Dimitri went to go take a shower and I went to sit on the porch right outside our bedroom. There was a full moon that shone on the waves that softly crashed on shore. The sound was calming and it helped to calm down my nerves that were still reeling from what we had found out earlier. I closed my eyes and focused my attention on the sound of the ocean and the smell and feel of the soft breeze. I couldn't remember when the last time was that I had been to a beach.

"How are you feeling?" asked Dimitri from behind me.

I kept my eyes closed while I responded. "I'm not gonna lie to you, I feel a little shaken up."

He came and sat next to me. "You have nothing to worry about Roza. I'm here to protect you and while I'm here nothing is going to happen to you."

I opened my eyes then to see him looking down at me with so much love and reassurance that it made me feel all warm inside.

"I know, I just don't want anything to happen to you either," I said.

"Nothing is going to happen," he said cupping my face with his hand and bringing his lips to meet mine.

And so we sat there under the light of the moon kissing and making up for the time we had lost in the last months.

**If you guys also want to know how the beach house looks I will post a link to a picture :)**

**Don't forget to review!**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Zdrastvooytye **_**Comrades! I would like to say _spasiba_ to all those who review and read my story lol Just as a warning, there is a scene in the end of this chapter that is um, descriptive I would say. My beta had more to do with that cuz she wanted to try writting something lol So procede with caution if you don't like that kind of stuff.**

**Enjoy!**

**Daisy**

**Chapter 8**

The next day we woke up nice and early to go talk to Lydia. We figured that if we went early the store would be empty, except for maybe some morning alcoholics. So we made our way to the store that wasn't very hard to find. There were a couple of homeless people in the front, but apart from that the store was empty.

"Hello, is anyone working here?" I yelled out. If they worked here they should be behind the counter not doing who knows what in the back. I grabbed a candy bar from the counter so I could start the conversation easier.

Then a woman emerged from the back with a box of vodka bottles. She was a short woman about 5 feet tall that looked to be around her fifties with shoulder length brown hair. "Sorry, I had to go to the back to stock up on more liquor," she said lifting up the box in her arms. She seemed kind and genuinely sorry.

"Um, do you want some help?" I asked.

"No thank you, this was the last box." She walked up to the counter and rang me up. "Will that be all?" she asked.

I looked at her name tag that said Maria. "Maria is it? Does a woman by the name of Lydia Davis work here?"

"Are you a relative of hers?" she said looking at me and Dimitri, trying to find similarities to Lydia.

"No but…"

"It is essential we speak to her," finished Dimitri from behind me.

Maria just stood there, trying to decide how to respond. I looked at her straight in the eyes and tried to project just how much we needed to speak to Lydia.

"Please," I said with pleading eyes.

Just as she was about to respond a man walked up to the register to pay. She looked at the clock on the wall and then looked back at us. "Look, my break starts in ten minutes. If you two will stick around and wait for me, we can go get some coffee and talk about this."

I looked at Dimitri who nodded and then I turned back to her. "Okay, we'll wait."

We went outside and sat next to the wall to wait for her. "Man, I feel like a low life waiting in front of a liquor store," I said to Dimitri. Only then did I realize there was a homeless guy sitting right next to me and I felt embarrassed. "No offense," I told him which he responded to with a grunt.

Ten minutes later we took off to a small coffee shop that was a block away. Dimitri got a black coffee while I got a super sweet hot chocolate and a donut.

I scrunched up my face. "I don't know how you can drink that, it tastes so bitter," I told Dimitri.

He did that cool one eyebrow thing. "I don't know how you can eat so much sugar."

"Well I like sugar cuz it's sweet like me," I said with a smile.

He smiled at me and then we sat down at a table in the corner with Maria.

"So where is Lydia?" I asked.

Maria gave me a small smile. "You don't lose time, do you?" Then she looked away and sighed. "I know you two wanted to talk to her, but she's…dead."

I sat there with my mouth open. "She's dead? She can't be dead…" Crap. We had hit a dead end. How were we supposed to find Lissa's brother now? "How long has it been?"

"It's been about a couple of weeks. First she went missing and then her body turned up in the woods, drained of blood to make it even stranger." She seemed to be getting lost in her thoughts. "She never seemed like the type that had enemies."

"Were there any suspects?" I asked.

"An investigation was done but they didn't find anything and after a while they gave up," said Maria.

"Did she ever mention anything about her family or children?" Dimitri asked.

"She never really talked about her family, only mentioned that she had a son but that she had given him away." She shook her head. "Poor thing, she felt terrible for giving him away and losing contact with her cousin."

My head jerked up, we might get another lead. "Her cousin?"

"Yes. When she had the baby she didn't think it would be an appropriate place to raise him where she was living, where she worked. So she gave him to her cousin where she would go visit them until she moved to California. She was running away from something, but she didn't say what. Then when she got settled here, she tried to contact her cousin but she had moved away. And now, well, now she's gone." She took a sip of her coffee and then looked at us, expecting some sort of response.

"Did she say anything else?" I asked.

"No, I'm sorry dear. That's all she mentioned," she said with a shrug.

"Did she ever mention her cousin's name or anything about her," asked Dimitri.

"Well I think she did say her name a couple of times." She looked away from us, trying to remember the name. "I think she said it was Miros Malenkov. She was married but couldn't have any children with her husband, which is why she took the boy I'm assuming."

They were probably both dhampirs and that's why they couldn't have babies. And maybe Lydia had been a dhampir too…which meant that there was a royal dhampir out there. I don't know if I had ever heard of that before. I looked at Dimitri and knew immediately that we were having the same thoughts.

Maria looked at her watch. "I'm sorry dears but my break is almost over and that's all I know."

"No, it's okay. You have been of great help to us. Thank you," said Dimitri with a nod.

"Well I'm glad I could help in some way." She got up and shook our hands before saying goodbye and leaving.

"I think we should call your father and tell him what we found out so he can find out more information," said Dimitri.

We got up and left home. I waited on the porch and looked out to the ocean while Dimitri talked to my dad on the cell phone. He was in another room but I could still make out the conversation.

"We couldn't find out much, but we found out that she gave away her son," said Dimitri. There was a short pause while my dad asked him something and then Dimitri responded. "Apparently she gave him to her cousin whose name is Miros Malenkov, but they lost contact when Lydia moved to California." Another short pause before Dimitri spoke. "Yes I'm guessing Miros moved out of Las Vegas and maybe even out of the country. Lydia came to California because she was running away from something, and my guess is that the same thing is what made Miros move away too. Her last name sounds Russian, so maybe her husband was Russian and they moved to Russia. I know it's not much of a lead, but that's all we got." My dad said something and then Dimitri said good bye before closing the cell phone.

I remained there looking out at the ocean, observing the people playing in the water. All of them had such normal lives with nothing to worry about except bills and work. They had no idea of the evils that lurked behind every dark corner in their lives.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Dimitri sitting down next to me.

"Nothing. Just about how oblivious people are to what really surrounds them," I said. "I mean, we risk our lives every day protecting against and killing evil creatures and they don't even know it. Sometimes I even hate how underappreciated we are in our world. Not only do we risk our lives and our race but now the selfish Moroi want to put young dhampirs out in the field."

"Yes, it is wrong in many levels to have those young dhampirs out in the field protecting when they should still be training, but you must remember that not all Moroi are selfish Roza," said Dimitri. "Our only hope now is to find Lissa's brother so she can help lean the vote against this new ruling."

"The future of our people lies in finding one individual person in a sea of 7 billion people," I said staring out at the horizon.

Dimitri rubbed my arm and got up then. "I'm going to take a shower."

"Want some company Comrade?" I asked. He just chuckled and left, but he didn't say no. Hmm why not join him? I got up and headed into the bedroom where I took off my clothes. I went into the bathroom and opened the shower door to reveal a hot and naked Russian god. His back was facing me so I approached him and started rubbing his shoulders and kissing his back, which was as high as I could reach.

"Mmm Roza," he murmured. The sound of my name rolled from his lips and sent a wave of heat all through my body.

"I love it when you call me that," I said against his skin.

He turned around and put his strong arms around me. "Roza, Roza, Roza." Each time he said my name sent chills down my spine and made my knees weak.

**(A/N the scene I mentioned in the beginning starts now lol)**

As I wrapped my arms around his neck, his lips came crashing down on mine. He traced my bottom lip with his tongue asking for entry and I willingly opened my mouth. Our tongues then tangled in an intricate battle for dominance. I felt his hands moving from place to place, touching my body as lightly as possible, but always keeping himself in control. My hands made their way up to his soaked hair, grabbed a fist-full of it and pressing him closer to me. His mouth made its way down from my mouth to my jaw going lower and lower, making my knees grow so weak that I couldn't help but softly moan in his ear. I felt him getting harder and harder as he continued kissing me and exploring me with his hands. I think he felt my knees shaking because suddenly he pushed me up against the shower wall and brought me up by wrapping his arms around my waist while I straddled his hips. I started to grind my pelvis against him to tell him I was ready, he entered me slowly and carefully at first. He groaned onto my collarbone as I moaned out loud.

I neared my face next to his and gasped out," Dimitri…faster".

He must have wanted it too but was controlling himself because as soon as those words left my lips he gave me what I asked for. His thrusts were getting faster and faster, hitting deeper and deeper inside of me. He knew when he hit the right spot because I gripped his shoulders tighter than ever for my dear life. I was so lost I didn't notice that we had reached our climax until I felt him exploding inside of me.

We remained in the same positions when it was over; trying to catch our breaths from the strongest ride we had had so far. Dimitri nuzzled my neck and his teeth grazed my skin. Memories of endorphins flooded my mind and a slight moan escaped my lips. Dimitri froze, and I held my breath realizing what that might have reminded him of. He let me down and pulled away, also averting his eyes.

I couldn't find a way to approach this. "Dimitri I…I'm sorry."

He continued avoiding my gaze. "No, I'm sorry Roza," he said.

I cupped his face with my hands and forced him to look at me. I couldn't stand to see the pain in his beautiful brown eyes. "You don't have to apologize anymore, I already forgave you. Please don't beat yourself up about it. It pains me to see you like this. I know you have your demons to fight but so do I. And just like you have given me your strength to fight mine, I'm giving you my strength to fight yours."

"What would I do without you my Roza? I can't believe I got so lucky."

"No I'm the lucky one," I said bringing down his lips to meet mine.

We headed off to the bed then, showing our love for each other until we fell asleep.

**So there you have it, chapter 8. Hope you guys liked it!**

**Chapter 9 is coming your way soon =)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello my fellow VAddicts! Sorry it took me so long to post up this chapter. My beta and I have been busy bees, but it's finally here! I would like to thank my beta who helped writting this chapter and to all of you who review and read the story. Oh and it always seems to slip my mind but Richelle Mead owns all.**

**Enjoy!**

**Daisy**

**Chapter 9**

I was in a rose garden overlooking the ocean. The salty ocean breeze played across my body and caressed my face as I closed my eyes. Immediately I knew this was one of Adrian's dreams but I remained where I was with my eyes closed.

"I didn't think you would come back," I told him.

"I'm not Adrian," said a voice behind me that I could recognize anywhere.

I turned around and opened my eyes. Lissa stood there looking as beautiful as ever in a white summer dress. "Lissa!" I yelled, running to her and giving her a big hug.

"Oh Rose, I've missed you!" she said against my shoulder.

"I know I've missed you too Liss." I pulled back to look at her. "So you learned how to walk dreams," I said. "When?"

"A couple of days ago," she said with a smile. "The first time I did it was with Christian and I've been practicing with him since then." Her smile fell then. "Rose where are you?"

"It's better if you don't know Liss. But I'm okay, don't worry."

"I was planning on getting you out…" she said trailing off.

"I know, and you shouldn't have been even thinking of doing something like that," I scolded her. "You could have gotten into trouble."

"I know but it would have been worth the risk. I could never let them execute you," she said looking into my eyes, trying to convey just how much she meant it.

"But still, I wouldn't have wanted you to get into trouble," I said. I don't know what I would have done if Lissa had been caught. "Anyways, how are things with Christian?"

As soon as I mentioned Christian, a huge smile spread across her face. "Everything is great and back to normal." Then her smile fell and her forehead creased slightly. "Well as normal as it can be with total chaos around us. The queen's murder has really had an effect on the court."

At the mention of the queen I remembered her note. Maybe telling Lissa wasn't the wisest decision but she had a right to know, especially when it directly affected her. "Um Liss, there's something I need to tell you."

Her face became clouded worry. "What's wrong Rose?"

"No it's nothing like that. It's actually good news depending on how you look at it." She kept looking at me, waiting for me to continue. "Um well, you kind of have…a half brother."

Shock and bewilderment replaced her earlier emotion of worry. "A half brother? What do you mean? How do you know? Who told you?" Her questions came out in a rush one after the other, not even giving me time register them.

"Wow slow down Liss. First off you can't tell anyone," I told her.

"Why?" she asked as she became more confused.

"You just can't okay? Promise me you won't tell anyone. Not even Christian or Adrian," I said.

She knew me well enough to trust whatever I told her to do. "Okay."

"Now, I know this sounds crazy but—"

I was about to tell her everything when I was woken up by someone vigorously shaking my arm. "Roza wake up," whispered Dimitri.

"What's going—"

"Shh," he whispered covering my mouth. "There's someone in the house."

Immediately all my senses became alert and I felt nauseated, I pointed to my stomach trying to tell Dimitri that I was sensing Strigoi. His eyes widened, I nodded and Dimitri removed his hand. We made our way to our clothes and got our stakes ready for a fight. The moonlight was shining through the glass doors and made it easier to see. Dimitri slowly opened the door and we walked out into the hallway. My adrenaline was pumping, my heart was racing and the nausea got worse with every step I took. I was expecting one to pop out at me at any second now. As we entered the living room I saw a shadow in the corner of my eye right when we became surrounded by three Strigoi.

"Damn it, how do you guys find me?" I said more to myself than anything.

The Strigoi to my left lunged for me as Dimitri took on the other two. I kicked the Strigoi's head and managed to make him waver just enough to let me get a clear view of his chest. I aimed my stake at his heart but he grabbed my arm and threw me to the floor. He got on top of me and pressed my shoulders to the ground, not letting me move my arms. So I used my knee to hit him in his groin and his brief lack of concentration allowed me to change our positions. I quickly grabbed my stake and struck him in his heart, making sure that the stake went all the way through.

"That's what you get when you mess with me," I told his corpse.

I turned to Dimitri who had already killed one of the Strigoi and was now fighting his second one. I came up behind the Strigoi and kicked out his legs. When he fell on his knees I grabbed his arms behind his back with one hand and forced him to lie down with my knee.

Catching on to my plan, Dimitri spoke. "Who sent you?"

"You already know who sent us."

"No I don't, now tell me who the hell sent you," I said.

"You won't survive much longer," he said. "We'll find you where ever you go."

"Tell me who sent you!" I yelled but he didn't respond.

"He's not going to tell us anything more Roza," said Dimitri.

I gave up trying to get more information out of him. "Fine, kill him," I said lifting up the Strigoi so Dimitri could stake him. I let the body hit the floor and went to sit down on a couch. I was so not up for this. All these attacks were taking a drain out of me.

Dimitri sat down next to me and put his hand on my arm. "Are you okay? You look tired."

"I'm fine," I said. "Apparently not only am I the most wanted murderer in our world, but Strigoi are also hunting me. But then again, when haven't I been pursued by someone?"

"It's going to be alright," said Dimitri rubbing my arm. "Now go back to bed and get some rest. I'm going to call the Alchemists to come clean up the bodies and then I'll go back to bed."

I nodded and headed off to bed but I couldn't fall asleep again. The Strigoi were finding me more often and the scary part was that they _knew_ where to find me. These frequenting Strigoi attacks were starting to panic me, but I didn't want to admit it to Dimitri. Eventually I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

I woke up to some annoying sunlight hitting my face. "Ugh." I groaned and rolled over to avoid the light. I wonder what time it is, I thought to myself. I stretched out my arm expecting to touch some warm flesh but instead was faced with an empty space. I opened my eyes and saw no Dimitri there. The alarm clock on the bed side table said it was 11 am.

"Shoot," I said getting up. I made my way to the bathroom and brushed my teeth before going back to the room and changing into some clean clothes. I walked into the kitchen to find Dimitri drinking coffee and reading one of his westerns.

"Where did you find that?" I said. "'Cause I'm pretty sure Abe doesn't read westerns." The thought of Abe reading a western made me smile.

He chuckled. "I brought some from home."

"Of course," I said. "How could anyone forget their western novel collection?"

"Don't be so quick to disregard them," said Dimitri. "You might be surprised to find that you like them."

"Um, yeah…I'll try them some time," I said slowly. Like that will ever happen. I poured myself some cereal and milk and then went to sit with Dimitri. "So what are we doing today?" I asked.

"Actually," he said looking down at his watch, "we are leaving in about two hours."

"Where are we going?" We had nothing to follow here so I wondered where we were off to.

"We are going to Alaska."

"Alaska? Why are we going to Alaska?" I asked with a puzzled look.

"Because your father and I thought it would be best if we went to Alaska for a little while. We've noticed that the attacks have become more frequent and it has both of us unsettled. This time of year Alaska has light all day long, which means that there is no fear of Strigoi attacks."

Of course, I knew that since I had gone to Alaska not so long ago. "Look its fine, we don't need to blow this whole situation out of proportion. Plus we're both great fighters and can ward off anything that attacks us," I said.

"Yes I know we are, but I still don't want to risk anything."

"But—"

"Please don't argue Roza, we are doing this for your safety," he said with loving yet firm eyes.

"Fine," I said giving in.

He marked the page in his book and stood up. "We should pack up so we can head off to Watsonville."

"Well we don't have much to pack up, we've only been here for like two days."

"Well then we can leave in a bit."

When we were done packing up the few things we had taken out, we got in a car that Abe had left us and took off. The ride was nice and pleasant with the beautiful scenery around us. We were listening to a song about a karma chameleon on a 80s radio station that Dimitri had remarkably been able to find.

"You know, I actually kind of like this song," I said. "It sounds like one of those happy songs that they play in old movies." Dimitri just smiled and kept driving.

When we got into town we still had an hour and a half to spare before the scheduled departure.

"Can't we just leave now?" I asked. What were we supposed to do for an hour and a half?

"I'm sorry ma'am, but we have to get things prepared for flight and it's going to take some time," said one of the pilots.

"Okay, thanks."

I made my way towards the car with Dimitri shadowing me. He turned on the car and we rolled down the windows.

"So, now what do we do, Comrade?" I said turning off the radio.

"We could go into town unless you prefer to listen to music?" he said lifting up an eyebrow.

"I guess it is better than having to listen to your 80's music."

"Okay, Watsonville here we come."

As we made our way into town we kept stopping people to ask directions. We figured it would be easier than getting told once and then ending up lost. We, well Dimitri, drove the car as I observed the town. It was not that spectacular as Santa Cruz but it was normal. Santa Cruz had some weird looking individuals like a man we had seen wearing all pink equipped with a pink umbrella.

I didn't want to get down and walk so I asked Dimitri if he wouldn't mind if we went to sit down on the grassy area of a park we passed by, Callaghan Park I think it was called. The park was very nice and clean. I gotta say even the grass looked healthy. _Grass healthy gosh Rose what's gotten into you? _We laid there watching the clouds go by. I caught Dimitri watching the children play on the playground that the city had installed, I presumed. He must have been watching them carefully because he didn't notice me watching him. Somehow it bothered me that he adored children so much yet he wouldn't be able to father one because of me. How I wished I had the ability to give him at least one child. I sighed sadly.

"What's wrong?" I heard him ask.

I was so preoccupied with my thoughts that I hadn't noticed Dimitri had turned his attention to me. "Oh, umm, I was just… umm… I was…" I sighed gathering my thoughts. "I noticed how you were watching the kids there," I nodded towards the playground, "and it passed through my mind how much you want a child and it's just that… that… we, _**I**_ am not capable of giving you a family." I hadn't noticed that there were tears running down my cheeks.

He placed his hands on either side of my face, forcing me to look at him while he wiped the tears away.

"I don't care Roza. As long as I am with you and you are with me, it's more than I would ever want." He whispered wrapping his arms around me and holding me close to him.

When we arrived at the airstrip again the jet was ready to go, so we boarded and took off. Six long, eventless hours later we arrived at the Fairbanks International Airport in Alaska. I was flooded with memories of the last time I had been here to break out Victor. I hoped no one from our world would notice me.

I figured we would be staying in town but instead the driver got on George Parks Highway and drove out of town. We remained on the interstate until we turned right onto another road called gold hill or something like that. From there we got out on a dirt road that had a "Private Property: Do not enter" sign. The road led us through the tree filled mountains until we reached a log house overlooking a lake. I had to hand it to Abe, he knew how to choose his houses.

The driver helped us take our luggage inside and handed Dimitri some car keys. "There is a car in there for your disposal," he said pointing toward the garage.

"Thank you," said Dimitri.

The driver nodded then got back into his car and drove away.

"It's just you and me in the middle of nowhere," I told Dimitri.

"Town is just thirty minutes away," he said.

"Well we're still far away." I was not going to lose this argument.

"Yes." He smiled. "Let's go inside and unpack. I have a feeling we're going to be here for a while."

The house had a tall ceiling that made the house feel really spacious. When you entered the house there was a small living room to the right that looked like a nice napping place. To the left there was a much larger living room that looked more for entertaining guests and spending time with family. The kitchen was cute and spacious with wooden cabinets and a black granite counter top along with a small table that flowed from the center island. On the second floor there was another small living that had a fireplace and a calming view of the mountain side. The master bedroom had a huge bed that looked comfy and inviting. Across from the bed there was a brick fireplace and a flat screen TV, but the bathroom was the most stunning. It had a shower and a separate Jacuzzi bathtub and a toilet that had its own little room. Hmm I could imagine some good uses for that Jacuzzi bathtub.

After looking around I let myself fall on the bed that was so comfortable it felt like I was lying on a cloud. I turned over so that I was lying on my stomach and started gazing outside the glass doors. A memory came to me then of when Dimitri and I had gone on a weekend trip to Idaho to meet with other guardians. We had stopped at a gas station that overlooked the snow covered pines and mountains, a place that was completely quiet and still. I had told Dimitri that I wouldn't mind living in a remote cabin and he had said I wouldn't last in a place like that.

"What are you doing Rose?" he asked, materializing in the doorway and making his way toward the bed.

"Remember that time when we went to Idaho to meet with a group of guardians?" Maybe he would remember.

"When we made the snow angels behind the gas station?" he said.

"Yeah." So he did remember.

"What about it?" he said lifting up one of his eyebrows.

"Remember how you said that I wouldn't like living in a remote cabin?"

"Yes…" he said, trying to figure out where I was going with this.

"Well, you were wrong. I mean I didn't imagine a cabin this big, but I did picture myself with you. And all I know is that if you are with me, then I don't care where I am. Being in a remote location is just a plus," I said giving him a small smile.

Dimitri smiled and lay down next to me. "I remember I had told you that you wouldn't live in a cabin until you were an old, old lady. But you've changed, become more mature in not only your actions but how you perceive yourself and the world." He grabbed a strand of my hair and put it behind my ear. "This cabin fits you just right, Roza."

"I'm so glad you're with me," I said giving him a peck in the cheek. Our arms circled around each other and we lay there enjoying the heat emanating from our bodies and just enjoying a sweet moment like this.

**Aww how sweet :) I promise that the next chapter will be posted up sooner!**

**And if you guys are curious as to how the house looks, I will post up links on my profile :)**

**Also, if you guys want to watch an awesome fan made VA trailer go here: .com/watch?v=0wr4blWgwdY&feature=related**

**I have to say, it's one of my favorites that I've seen so far ^_^**


	10. Chapter 10

**I told you guys this chapter would be posted up sooner! And who has seen that new trailer for the Chronicles of Narnia? Ben Barnes looks so handsome! You guys should totally watch the trailer if you havent seen it already. As always, Richelle Mead owns all =)**

**Enjoy!**

**Daisy**

**Chapter 10**

I lay on the floor panting and trying to catch my breath. "You're wearing me out Comrade," I said.

"Well we need to stay in shape in case we run into anything," said Dimitri looking down at me.

"I know," I said taking his hand and standing up.

"Pick up from the beginning," he said taking his stance again.

We did hand to hand combat for another hour before going inside to wash up. I went to the shower and let the warm water run down my back and soothe my aching muscles. The last six weeks we had been practicing combat and it was all fine with me. But recently I had started to feel really tired, and not just after our sessions either. I felt sluggish during the day and it took every ounce of my will to get up and go practice with Dimitri.

After taking my extra long shower I changed into some comfy and warm clothes and made my way to the kitchen where Dimitri was already showered and making dinner. I inhaled deeply the mouth-watering smell of his cooking. "I hope you're making enough for ten cuz I'm starving," I said. Along with feeling tired I had also been extremely hungry, more so than usual.

He chuckled and kept stirring the contents of the pot. "Of course. We have to nourish that body of yours."

"So have you heard anything new from Abe?" For the last six weeks Abe's men had been searching for new leads but had come up empty handed.

Dimitri shook his head. "No, they still haven't found anything new."

We ate dinner in the kitchen and then watched a movie before heading off to bed. I was so tired that I fell asleep right away without a sweet second of sleep to waste. I was having a nonsense dream about a duck chasing me at a carnival when a wave of nausea rolled through me. I shot up in bed thinking that there were Strigoi nearby but quickly realized it was actual vomit threatening to come out. I pulled the covers back and ran to the bathroom just in time to avoid throwing up on the floor. I clutched the sides of the toilet as I threw up everything I had eaten for dinner and left my stomach empty.

I must have woken up Dimitri with my wrenching because he appeared behind me pulling my hair back so I wouldn't get puke all over it. "Are you okay Roza?" he said in a worried tone.

After throwing up all the contents in my stomach I did feel better. I nodded and went to go brush my teeth to get the nasty taste out of my mouth. "I must have eaten something that made my stomach upset," I said, not truly believing my excuse. Dhampirs and Moroi rarely got sick and I didn't even want to consider the possibility that I had some rare virus or disease. I couldn't exactly waltz in to a vampire clinic and ask for help. "Don't worry," I said noticing Dimitri's worried expression and giving him a small smile. "I'll sleep it off."

We headed back to bed and fell asleep. I thought I was going to be able to sleep it off but the nausea continued all throughout the next day. I couldn't keep anything down and my appetite for food had vanished, which set off a warning flag. I was always hungry and welcomed food. But now? The mere thought of it made me want to vomit. After a couple of days both Dimitri and I were starting to get really worried. I was so worried that I even let Dimitri schedule an appointment in a clinic, not that it might do much help if I did indeed have a rare virus that affected Moroi and Dhampirs.

So the next day we headed into town an hour before my appointment. The car ride into town alone was thirty minutes, so when we arrived it was half an hour until my appointment. After I signed in I had to fill out some paperwork that Dimitri volunteered to fill out for me. I sat next to him and concentrated on not puking all over the old woman next to me. Twenty minutes later I was called in while Dimitri stayed in the waiting room. The nurse took my weight and height and vital signs before leaving the room and saying that the doctor would see me soon.

I sat there on the paper covered bed remembering all the times I had visited the clinic at 's. It was crazy how I had been injured so many times, and yet I had remained healthy and fine. Well at least I hoped so.

"Hello Ms. Mazur I am Dr. Pranly." Dimitri and I had agreed that I should use another name and had ended up with Roza Mazur.

The doctor was a female about as tall as me with long blond hair pulled back in a pony tail and shadowy gray eyes that created a sharp contrast to her pale features. "How are we doing?"

"Well I've been feeling really nauseous and tired for the last couple of days," I said noticing how she wrote down what I told her.

She noded. "Any headaches, fever, dizziness, shivering or anything unusual?" she asked.

I thought back to how I had felt the last few days. "Nope….well actually maybe a little dizzy."

She wrote down some notes on her paper and looked up at me. "Well lie down and let's check you out," she said. She pressed on different spots on my body and listened to my heart and lungs before telling me to sit up.

"So what's up with me?" I asked.

She looked at her notes then looked back at me. "Miss Mazur, are you sexually active?" she asked.

The question caught me off guard but I answered after a slight hesitation. "Um, yes."

"And do you use any sort of protection or birth control?"

Dhampirs couldn't reproduce with each other and Dimitri and I were both Dhampirs so we never bothered with that stuff. "No," I said. Then after thinking about it I realized what she was getting at. "Wait, you think I'm pregnant?"

She noded. "Yes, all your symptoms seem to point to that."

But I couldn't be pregnant, it just wasn't possible…was it? No, of course not. Dhampirs couldn't reproduce with each other. "But I can't be…" I trailed off.

"Don't worry Ms. Mazur, we can run a pregnancy test here and get you out of that doubt." She gave me a cup and ordered me to go pee in it and give it to a nurse so she could do the test. I went back to the waiting room and waited for the results.

"So what's wrong Rose?" asked Dimitri.

I shook my head. "Um don't worry," I mumbled.

"What do you mean? Did they check you out already? Can we leave now?" His questions started sounding a little frantic.

"I'm just waiting for some results," I said.

"Why won't you tell me what's wrong Roza?" he asked with clear worry in his voice.

"Look don't worry about it, okay? Just wait until the results are ready."

"But Roza—"

"Just please wait Dimitri," I said cutting him off.

He nodded and remained quiet. What was I going to do if it came out positive? I barely knew how to take care of myself, let alone a baby. Wait, what was I doing? Of course I wasn't pregnant! There was just no way that I was. I just probably had some food poisoning or something.

The whole time we were waiting it felt like an eternity. All the while Dimitri was sick with worry about what was wrong with me and I was pondering the possibility that I was pregnant. They had instant messages. Instant coffee ... Why the heck hadn't anyone invented an instant pregnancy test yet?

After what seemed like years, they called me back again. This time I told Dimitri to come with me, he should be there if it turned out to be positive. We walked back to the room with who told us to sit down. She looked down at the results and looked back at us with a smile on her face. "The results came back positive Miss Mazur. Congratulations."

"Positive? Positive for what?" asked Dimitri clearly confused.

"Can you give us a minute please?" I asked the doctor.

"Of course," she said before exiting the room.

"What's going on Roza," said Dimitri searching my face for a clue as to what was going on.

I took a deep breath and gave him a small smile. "I'm pregnant."

Shock was clearly written all over his features before it was replaced with sadness. "It's Ivashkov's isn't it?" Of course he would think that, it would have been the most logical explanation. The only problem was that I hadn't had sex with Adrian or anyone else except for Dimitri.

"Adrian? No, Dimitri I haven't been with anyone else but you," I said looking him straight in the eyes.

"But how can this be possible? Dhampirs can't reproduce together," he said confused.

I shrugged. "I don't know how this is possible, but it happened."

"So this means I'm going to be a dad?" he said, not really expecting an answer. Slowly his features started changing and he gave me one of those rare beautiful smiles that took my breath away. "I'm going to be a dad!" he said hugging me.

"And I'm going to be a mom," I said, not sure of how I was feeling about this. So many emotions were running through me right now: shock, fear, confusion. But overall, I did feel happy. I was having a baby with the man I loved the most, something I never thought I would ever be able to do.

The doctor walked in then, smiling at us. "I'm glad to see that you two are happy. There are so many couples that feel like it's the end of the world. But if you do decide you don't want the baby, there are other options," she said taking on a more serious tone.

"Like abortion," I said.

"Yes, as well as adoption. If you decide you don't want to keep it you can give it up for another family to adopt."

"No." I shook my head. "I want to keep my baby," I said reaching for Dimitri's hand and giving it a slight squeeze of reassurance that he returned.

"That is great to hear," she said with a smile. "You don't know how many children are abandoned by irresponsible parents."

My thoughts went to my mother who had left me to be raised by the academy. She hadn't completely abandoned me but she had been almost nonexistent in my life. I wouldn't do that to my child. I shook my head. "No, we won't abandon this little guy," I said patting my stomach.

"That's good to hear," she said nodding her head and looking at her patient charts. "Our Obstetrician just had an opening if you two would like to see her and get an ultrasound."

I looked at Dimitri who smiled at me. "We would like that very much," he said.

"Follow me then." She led us to another room that had the ultrasound machine and a bed to lie on. "Change into this gown and the Obstetrician will be with you shortly," she said with a smile before leaving.

I turned to Dimitri. "I thought they did the ultrasound by putting that thing on my stomach."

Dimitri looked like he was holding back a smile. "I think she is going to use the other method."

"What other method?" I asked slowly.

A small smile escaped his lips then. "The one where they place the probe inside your…well down there."

I stopped just as I was pulling off my pants. "You mean she's going to stick something up my crotch?" I had never used sex toys and to have someone else put something in there seemed kind of weird.

"It's going to be fine Rose. Now finish undressing so we can get started," he said picking up my discarded clothes and folding them.

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one who's going to get some metal thing stuck inside you."

He chuckled and shook his head but didn't say anything else. Yeah you better not say anything, I thought. The OB walked in then, a tall 40 year old woman with long brown hair and almond shaped eyes. "So how are we doing Mister and Misses Mazur?" Huh, she thought we were married.

"Oh uh we're not—"

"Belikov. It's Mister and Misses Belikov," interjected Dimitri. I looked up at him with a questioning look but he just gave my hand that he was holding a squeeze.

"Okay well lay down so we can get started." She took out the probe and stuck it in me. It felt…uncomfortable to say the least, but after a little while it became bearable. She moved it around to get a better view. "Okay here we go…oh," she said.

"What? What is it?" I asked.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Dimitri.

"No there's nothing wrong with the babies."

I let out a sigh of relief. Nothing was wrong with the—"Did I hear right? Did you just say _babies?"_ My voice going up an octave when I said it.

"Yes." She smiled. "See here?" she said pointing to two places on the screen, "these are the two heartbeats."

Oh good lord. I had started with just one trouble maker and now it had turned into two. Dimitri and I were going to have our hands full. I looked at the screen and saw the two little fluttering hearts and my heart gave a slight squeeze. I was feeling so happy right now that a tear escaped and ran down my cheek. I looked up at Dimitri and saw that he had the same smile I had on my face.

"How far along am I?" I asked.

She looked at the screen. "I would say that you are about seven weeks along." Seven weeks…seven weeks ago Dimitri and I had been together in that cabin in Siberia. Who knew our reunion would have such an outcome?

The OB gave us a picture of the ultrasound before we took off, two little blobs on a paper. When we got home I decided to take a bath to help my nerves settle down and let all that had happened today sink in. My whole life had changed today. All I wanted to do now was protect the new lives growing inside me at any cost. A sudden realization jolted me. Dimitri and I had been sparing for the last few weeks, and not to mention all the attacks we had encountered. It was a miracle babies or I hadn't gotten hurt.

Even though I was happy, I couldn't help the doubt and fear that sprouted in me. I hadn't even started my guardian career yet and I was already pregnant. How am I going to be a guardian and take care of two babies? I knew Dimitri would be there for support and to help out but I wasn't sure if I was cut out to be a mom. I had never felt that maternal instinct very much. The only thing that comforted me was that I knew Dimitri would be by my side every step of the way.

When I got out of the bath I changed into my silk pajamas and found Dimitri lounging on the bed reading his western novel. "Is it getting to the good part?" I asked getting into bed and snuggling next to him.

He put his arm around me. "Well Clint has just come back to his childhood town to get revenge for his father's death."

"How…sweet," I said. I really didn't see what fascinated him so much about these stories. It was silent for a while. "How are you feeling about all this?" I said breaking the silence.

He inhaled deeply and exhaled before answering. "When I met you, I imagined myself with you for the rest of my life. And even though I knew we could never have kids together, I still wanted to be with you because I love you and I can't imagine a life without you." He smiled and bent down to kiss my forehead. "I never would have expected this, but it feels right, like it was always meant to happen. And knowing that it's our children that both of us created out of love makes me the happiest man on earth."

"You really feel that way?" I don't know how I had ended up with such a great man. I never really believed in a god, but I thanked whoever had led Dimitri into my life. I put my hand on his cheek and kissed him. "I love you with all my heart and all my being. You are my soul mate, my other half that completes me."

"As you are mine," he said covering my hand with his. "And don't worry Roza, we have eight months to prepare. Even then we might not be fully ready, but no parents ever are."

A sudden thought occurred to me. "What are we going to do about our search for Lissa's brother?"

He thought about it before answering. "I don't know. I think we should wait until we tell Abe to see what he thinks we should do.

I smile. "Ooh you better watch out."

"He'll be just as happy as we are," said Dimitri.

"If you say so," I said, trying to do the one eyebrow thing that Dimitri does but failing miserably.

He chuckled as he pulled up my camisole to reveal my stomach and kissed it. "I can't wait until you two are out of there," he said to my stomach.

I laughed. "Don't speak so soon. You're gonna want to put them back in there when they keep us up all night with their crying." He pulled down my shirt and joined in on my laughing. In eight months I would be able to hold them in my arms. My little miracles.

**Thanks for reading and dont forget to review! ^_^**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello everyone! I hope your summer is going awesome and that you guys are having fun in the sun :) I dont know how it happened, but this chapter came out really long so bear with it lol Thanks for reviewing and reading too ^_^ And as always Richelle Mead owns all (see I dont forget anymore lol)**

**Enjoy!**

**Daisy**

**Chapter 11**

Dimitri and I sat on the porch swing looking at the lake. After finding out about my pregnancy we had stopped the combat training, but we still went running. After all, I didn't want to get _that_ out of shape.

Dimitri stood up and extended his hand out to me. "It's getting kind of cold. Let's go inside and watch a movie." Always the concerned boyfriend and father to be.

I took his hand and smiled. "Okay."

"I'll even make you popcorn," he said bending down and giving me a quick kiss before heading off to the kitchen.

I wandered into the living room and looked through all the movies Abe had on stock when I noticed an old fashioned record player next to the shelf. I wondered why I hadn't seen it before. There was a record already on it so I turned it on and Elvis Presley started singing. I hadn't heard this song before but it was beautiful. I stood there with my eyes closed, swaying from side to side and enjoying the song. Then I felt a pair of hands on my waist and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"This is one of my favorite songs," said Dimitri.

I opened my eyes to see him looking down at me with loving eyes. "What's it called?"

"Can't help falling in love."

"You are such a softie underneath that cowboy duster," I said giving him a smile.

"Well you bring it out in me," he said.

I rested my head on his shoulder and pulled him closer to me. We stood there dancing to the same song that kept replaying when it was done, but I didn't care. This was our first dance and I was enjoying it. Until Dimitri's cell phone rang.

Dimitri pulled out his cell but kept a hand on my waist. "Belikov," he answered. "Good evening ." I could hear Abe's voice on the other end but I couldn't make out what he was saying. "That's too bad, it could have led us to another lead." There was a short pause before Dimitri spoke again. "Look sir before you hang up there's something I need to tell you."

Oh no, Dimitri was going to tell him. "Dimitri wait, give me the phone."

"What? Why?"

"Just give it to me. I want to tell him." Maybe he would take it better if he heard it from me.

Dimitri looked at me for a long time and then making up his mind handed me the phone. "Hey dad," I said. I never called him dad, I wondered if he would notice.

"Dad eh? You never call me dad. What's going on _Kiz_?" So he did notice.

I took a deep breath. "Look there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?" he asked with a slight tone of suspicion.

"Um…" I searched for words but couldn't come up with a way to break it to him. Why was it so hard to tell him?

"Rose?"

"I'm pregnant," I blurted out at last.

"You're what?" he said shocked. "It was that Ivashkov bastard wasn't it? I told him that if he ever…" he kept yelling out obscenities of what he'd told Adrian he would do to him.

"Dad calm down," I said in a soothing tone.

"Calm down? You know what? I'm going to make him respond for this child. If he thinks he can get my daughter pregnant and just leave her he is wrong. I don't care if he's a royal, I—"

"Adrian is not the father," I said, stopping his angry ranting. I turned to Dimitri who had a worried look on his face, fearing what my dad would do to him when he found out that he was the father. That made me smile. My tough Russian god was afraid of my dad. He didn't know what was waiting for him with my mom.

"Then who is?" he asked confused.

"It's Dimitri," I said without a hesitation.

"Belikov? _Kiz_ you know that's not possible."

"Don't you think I know that? Not in a million years did I think this was going to happen but it did," I said starting to get angry. Stupid hormones. "And I haven't been with anyone else but Dimitri," I added quietly.

It was so quiet on the other end I thought he had hung up. "Are you still there?" I asked.

"Are you sure your pregnant?" he said at last.

"Yeah. I went to a clinic and got a test done."

He let out a small chuckle. "I never thought I would be a grandpa this early. And I thought I told you to kick Belikov's butt if he put a hand on you."

I laughed. "Well that didn't exactly cross my mind at that moment. And plus, I can't hit the man that I love," I said looking at Dimitri.

He was quiet for a few seconds. "You really love him?" asked Abe.

"With my whole heart," I said ardently.

"Let me talk to him _Kiz_," he said.

"Okay but don't threaten him _too_ much," I said.

"I'll try," he grunted.

"Talk to you later then."

"Take care _Kiz_." Just as I was going to hand the phone over to Dimitri, he spoke. "And Rose?"

"Yeah?"

"Despite everything, I am excited to be a grandpa." Maybe all men were softies underneath their macho exterior.

"I'm glad to hear that," I said with a smile before handing the phone over to Dimitri. "Good luck," I told him. I was going to stay there and show support when a wave of nausea rolled through me. I ran to the bathroom covering my mouth before I threw up in the toilet. The doctor had said the morning sickness only lasted the first trimester, but I prayed it would go away sooner. I don't even know why they called it morning sickness since it basically lasted the whole day.

I stayed there kneeling next to the toilet until I felt sure that I wouldn't throw up anymore. I was brushing my teeth when Dimitri appeared in the doorway. "You okay?" he asked.

"Mhm," I said rinsing my mouth with mouth wash. "What did he tell you?"

His forehead slightly creased. "Well he said that if I hurt you, he was going to make me suffer the most unimaginable pain. But apart from that he took it well."

"Really?" Then again, who couldn't love Dimitri?

He nodded. "He said that if you had to be with someone, he was glad that it was me," he finished with a slight smile.

I went over to him. "No one can resist your charm," I said. "Now you just have to face my mom." He lifted up an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

"If Abe blew up like that, I can't imagine how my mom will react. Maybe it's good that you know how to handle pain," I said playfully. A nervous chuckle escaped his lips. "I'm just kidding," I said putting my arms around him. "I won't let her touch you."

"Thank you," he said kissing the top of my head. "Now let's go watch that movie."

We ended up watching Mr. and Mrs. Smith, a movie I actually enjoyed watching. I liked comparing me and Dimitri to them just because they also kicked ass. I was enjoying the movie but about halfway through I started dozing off. He noticed and turned off the movie before carrying me off to bed. He laid me down on the comforter and started taking off my shoes and clothes.

I grunted and moved around. "Roza you'll be more comfortable if you sleep with your pajamas on," he said chuckling.

"I'm tired," I mumbled against the blankets. I could feel the darkness enveloping me.

"Yes I know you're tired. Now let me put on your pajamas." He grabbed my legs and started putting on the bottoms but I kicked them off. He chuckled. "Rose…"

"I'll sleep like this." I was so tired I was barely aware of what I was saying.

"In your undergarments?"

"Mhm." I just wanted to sleep. It's not like he hadn't seen my panties and bra before.

He chuckled again. "Okay then." He came up to me and pulled the comforter around me before giving me a kiss on my forehead. "Sweet dreams." I was on the verge of completely drifting off when I heard Dimitri's cell ring and then fell asleep.

I woke up to something tickling my stomach. I slowly opened my eyes to see Dimitri perched on one elbow and using the other hand to trace patterns on my stomach. "What are you doing?"

He looked at me and gave me slight shrug. "Thinking."

"About?"

"Us, the babies, our future. My mind has been everywhere," he said moving his hand up and tracing the hem of my bra.

"Are you worried?" I felt stupid asking that I mean, why wouldn't he be? I sure was, who would have thought we could be parents?

"No it's just that," he took a slight pause, "I can't believe this is actually happening."

"Neither can I." I still couldn't wrap my head around it.

He brought down his lips to mine and kissed me. "I love you," he said against my lips.

I smiled against his lips. "I love you too."

We started kissing again and soon the pace picked up. Our tongues met and I grabbed fistfuls of his soft, velvety hair. Our clothes came off and our bodies entangled as one. And although the passion overtook us Dimitri always made sure to be gentler than other previous times.

I lay there afterward, resting my head on his bare chest when Dimitri spoke. "We're going back to Russia."

"What?" I propped myself up to get a better look at him.

"Last night your father called." So that's why I had heard his phone ring. "We talked and decided it would be best if we didn't continue our search for Lissa's brother."

I sat up and pulled the sheets around me. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "What? We can't just stop Dimitri, we have to find him."

"I know but I don't want any more of those run-ins we had with Strigoi. I can't risk you or the babies getting hurt."

"I understand that you're worried, but if we don't look for him then who will?"

"Your dad will. He said he will personally continue the search for Lissa's brother. He doesn't want anything to happen to any of you either."

"But the queen trusted me with the information and I feel obligated to do this. I can't just hand it off to someone else," I said sternly.

"I know you want to do this, but considering how the situation has changed, it would not be smart for us to continue the search." I could tell his temper was rising.

"Don't you understand that I have to do this? Not just for the Lissa but for the good of our world." I was starting to get angry.

"I'm not going to let you do this," he said firmly.

"Well then I'll continue by myself! I don't need you." I shouted before grabbing my robe and storming out of the room. I was fuming with rage. He should understand that I _had_ to do this. I couldn't just leave this behind. I didn't give up when I went looking for him and I was not going to stop my search for Lissa's brother. I went outside and sat on the porch swing, trying to calm down.

I don't know how long I stayed there, but eventually Dimitri came. He sat down next to me but he didn't say anything. We just sat there looking at the lake, slowly swinging back and forth. I decided to break the silence. "I'm sorry I blew up like that," I said still staring at the lake.

"It's fine. I know that you're feeling stressed and confused right now," he said.

I sighed. "It's these stupid hormones. They make me blow everything out of proportion."

He looked at me then with a serious look. "Rose, do you want this?"

The question took me by surprise. "What?"

"Do you want this? The babies, being with me."

"Of course I do," I said like if it was the most ridiculous question ever.

He grabbed my hands in both of his. "Then please understand that the decisions I make are only to benefit you and your safety. I couldn't stand it if something ever happened to you."

I leaned towards him and rested my forehead against his. I could feel his warm breath hitting my cheeks and his aftershave was all but intoxicating. "I'm sorry," I breathed.

He shook his head. "Don't be. Your strong character is part of what makes me love you. Your will to fight till the end." I laughed at that. How could anyone love that?

He pulled back slightly so he could look me in the eyes. "It won't be that bad. We'll be staying with my family in case you have any questions. You can talk to my mother and sisters if you're worried about anything. They can help us through this pregnancy."

I sighed. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow at 3 a.m. It's going to be a long flight."

"Ugh," I groaned laying back. I was tired of moving around so much, but I guess now we would be settling down for a bit.

"We're going to stop in Moscow so the pilots can rest. Maybe I can show you around all those places I used to tell you about," he said with an excited glint in his eyes.

I smiled. "I would love that." I remembered when I'd gone looking for him in Russia and seen those places he had described to me. They had brought back bitter sweet memories of him and I hadn't been able to fully marvel in their beauty.

Later on we packed up all our belongings and enjoyed our last day in Alaska. We walked around in the trails and just enjoyed the beauty of nature. We also went for a swim in the lake that was actually not that cold.

The next day we got up early and headed off to the airport. We boarded Abe's jet and took off soon after. Just as I had suspected, the plane ride was long, boring, and tiresome. And to top it all off I was feeling extra nauseas. However, I did manage to go to sleep for most of the plane ride. We arrived in Moscow at 5 pm when the sun was still up. When we got in the car Dimitri whispered something to the driver before we took off.

"What did you tell him?" I asked, curiosity taking over me. He shook his head but didn't say anything so I just dropped it.

We kept driving into town passing through the streets of Moscow until we came to a stop. I looked outside my window and immediately recognized where we were. We had stopped right in the middle of the city, the red square I think they called it. We got out of the car into the sea of tourists and locals alike.

Dimitri grabbed my hand. "What do you think?"

"I've actually been here before." Dimitri lifted an eyebrow questioningly. "When I was looking for you," I said quietly.

"Oh," was all he said.

"But I didn't get to enjoy it," I said trying to cheer him up. "How about you show me around?"

He smiled and pointed to a tall building that was surrounded by a huge wall. "That is the Kremlin where the president, Dmitry Medvedev, lives. See how the Russian flag at the top is up?" I nodded. "That means Medvedev is home." Then he led me to a more square building. "This is the Lenin Mausoleum. Do you want to go inside?"

"Sure." There were stairs on the side of the building that had three guards positioned at the foot of them. Around the next corner there were three more guards. We had to walk past without stopping and headed outside where they had monuments of past Soviet leaders.

After that we headed to 's cathedral, a building with amazing architecture. I stood in front of it just wondering how people had managed to build such a beautiful building.

"Come on, let's go inside," he said pulling my hand.

The inside of the cathedral was just as wondrous as its exterior. The walls were made of stone which kind of reminded me of a castle. And there was a sort of old musty smell to it, something that seemed to fit the church. There were many passages that we took, all of which had really big steps and made me tired. When we were done we sat in a pew near the back. There were crowds of people taking pictures and recording with their cameras. I looked around at all the paintings on the walls. They were amazing and fit in very well with the feel of the place.

"The church was built in 1555 by the order of Ivan the Terrible," said Dimitri, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Ivan the Terrible? What a great nickname," I said with a chuckle.

"Not the very best way to be remembered is it?"

"Well I wouldn't like to be remembered that way." I smiled. "I should be remembered as Rose the badass guardian."

Dimitri chuckled and shook his head. "The story goes that when Ivan saw the cathedral, he liked it so much that he ordered the architects to be executed. Just across the street actually."

"No way. Why would he want to kill them? That makes no sense," I said.

He shrugged. "Maybe he just didn't want anyone else to have a building as glamorous as his."

My forehead scrunched up a little. "Well I guess that sort of makes sense."

"The execution spot is still there if you want to see it."

"Serious? Let's go then." We walked across from 's to a section that was enclosed by a stone wall as tall as my chest. In the middle there were three large circular steps, the top one being the tallest. There were people surrounding the wall and throwing money inside, which I didn't see the point to since it wasn't a fountain or something. It didn't look like much of an execution spot, but I guess you didn't need anything fancy when you were killing people.

After throwing some money in there ourselves (Dimitri's idea, not mine) we went to a department store called GUM, where we browsed around. They had a lot of souvenirs and I was looking at a particular shirt that spiked my interest when I noticed that Dimitri wasn't by my side. I made a full circle as I looked around but still I saw no Dimitri. I moved on to look at some pencils when I felt his hand on the small of my back.

"Where did you go?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I was just looking at something."

It was starting to get dark when we got out so we decided to head over to the hotel that was basically right next to the red square. We were staying in a hotel called hotel National and we were sleeping in the Kremlin suite. When we got up to the room I knew why they called it the Kremlin suite. It had an amazing view overlooking the Kremlin just as the sun was setting. The room itself was incredible, decorated with antique furniture and paintings, I felt like I had stepped into the past.

We spent the rest of the day in the hotel watching TV and lounging around. Dimitri didn't think it was safe to go outside during nighttime when Strigoi could be lurking the streets. And even though I would have loved to see the city at night, I didn't argue with him.

The next day we took off on Abe's jet at around 10 am. The ride was smooth until some sort of alarm started ringing.

"What's going on Dimitri?" I asked startled.

"I don't—"

He was cut off by the pilot's voice that came out of the speakers. "Attention passengers. There is a malfunction with the jet. Prepare to evacuate as soon as possible."

The flight attendant came to us then with two backpacks. "Put these on and secure them tightly around your torso," she said as she handed us the backpacks.

"Do you have any for two people?" asked Dimitri.

"I am not sure but I will go check." A few seconds later she returned with a bigger backpack. "This is all I could find." She helped me and Dimitri put it on and checked that everything was secured. "Remember that you pull this so the parachute can come out," she said pointing to a lever. "We will go first so that we can help you when you land."

One by one the few flight attendants and the co-pilot jumped out. Dimitri and I were the last to go, except for the flight attendant that had given us the parachute and the pilot who was still driving jet, making sure the plane didn't crash down with us.

"Jump now," said the lady.

"It's going to be fine Roza," said Dimitri before we jumped off. The fall was incredible to say the least. I mean sure I was a little scared that we would crash and die, but the adrenaline rush of the fall was invigorating. Dimitri quickly pulled the parachute and then we were calmly falling down. When we almost hit the floor the others from the jet came and helped us land. We rested there, calming our nerves until the rest of the people on the jet had safely landed. A few moments later we heard a loud crash and saw a big explosion. Well there goes that nice jet.

"What are we suppose to do know?" I asked. We were in the middle of who knows where and the only thing that pointed toward civilization was a rode that stretched across the plain.

Dimitri touched my shoulder. "I'll go talk to the pilot." He walked over to the pilot and they started talking.

I sat down on the floor and hugged my knees to my chest, looking at the scenery that was actually really beautiful. There were no mountains around and the soft breeze made the grass dance across the plain. My mind started wandering to Lissa who I hadn't talked to since she had visited me in my dreams back in Santa Cruz. It had been more than a month and I couldn't help but wonder how she was taking the news that she had another brother. I wished I could talk to her but she hadn't visited my dreams since then and I couldn't risk contacting her in any other way.

I was considering checking in on her through our bond when Dimitri came back. "Abe's men are on their way. We aren't too far from a town called Chelyabinsk but we will have to drive the rest of the way to Baia."

"Just great," I sighed. "But why did we have to jump off the jet?"

"There was nowhere safe to do an emergency landing and the jet was about to explode," he said in a grave tone.

"What?" I exclaimed.

"To make the story short there was something missing in the engine which caused it to overheat."

"Well, look at the bright side," I said. "We did our first extreme sport together."

"Good thing we got that out of the way," said Dimitri.

We waited about half an hour before Abe's men arrived. Dimitri and I rode in a car with one of Abe's guardians, just a measure of precaution. The day carried on and the sun got lower on the horizon, but it looked like we were going to make it in time before the sun set. We had to stop a few times to fill up the gas tank and eat which slightly set us back.

We were so close to Baia that I could see the buildings and lights in the distance. I was wondering how Dimitri's family would react to the news of my pregnancy when a wave of nausea hit me. I tapped the driver in the shoulder. "Pull over."

He looked at me through the rearview mirror. "It's not really safe to stop right now, it's dark and there might be Strigoi out there."

"Yes I know but I need to throw up and if you don't pull over I'm going to puke all over your neck." And I had no doubt I would do it. I must have convinced him because he pulled over immediately. I ran outside and started throwing up while Dimitri came up behind me and held my hair. He gently rubbed my back while I puked, which actually did help. After I was done throwing up the feeling of nausea still remained. Why isn't it going away?

I was straightening up when the driver shouted, "Watch out!"

I turned around in time to escape a punch that was heading toward my face. I looked up to see a Strigoi towering over me. "So that plane crash didn't kill, did it Hathaway," he said.

"Oh you fucker, haven't you figured out by now that you won't succeed in your stupid little mission?"

He sneered at me. "We'll see."

We started throwing hits and punches then, trying to make the other person waver. One of those punches hit me in the side of my head and made me see black stars. I stumbled and the Strigoi took that opportunity to hit me and knock me down. I fell on my back all the air flew out of me.

He put his foot on my chest and gave me a malevolent smile. "Still sure I won't fulfill my goal?"

"Never," I spat out. That got him mad and caused him to kick me on the side of my head. My vision blurred and I instinctively covered my belly.

He must have noticed because he moved away my hands and kicked me in the stomach. Really hard. I let out a scream as the pain shot through my body. It was like nothing I had ever experienced in my life.

I was still groaning, holding on to my belly, when I felt a pair of hands either side of my face. "Roza are you okay?" asked Dimitri frantically.

I shook my head. "It hurts…a lot," I managed to say between breaths.

"Don't worry we'll get you to my mother's in a matter of minutes." He lifted my up and placed me in the car but the pain became so unbearable I lost consciousness.

**I told you guys it was long! And that bit about them having to jump off the jet? Yeah that was my little sister's idea lol**

**The next chapter will be up soon :) Go eat some ice cream in the mean time!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Happy summer everyone! Hope you guys are having a blast! Now this chapter isn't as long as the last one, but it's a good size. And if you guys haven't read any of Richelle's other books, you should do it! I am currently reading the Georgina Kincaid series right now and I have to say that I really like. Just picture Rose, but older lol Anyways, Richelle Mead owns all :)**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

**Daisy**

**Chapter 12**

**Dimitri POV**

I had just killed the Strigoi I was fighting with when I heard a cry of pain. I turned around and saw Rose on the floor clutching her stomach and crying. Oh no, no, no. I looked up to see a Strigoi standing over her with a smug smile plastered on his face. I ran to him and took him down, catching him off guard. Raising my hand, I brought down my stake directly into his heart and pushed it down until it reached the farthest it could go. I stood up and ran to Rose, dropping down on my knees and placing my hands on either side of her face.

"Are you okay Roza?" I asked anxiously.

She shook her head. "It hurts…a lot," she managed to say.

I looked down at her pants that were soaked in blood. "Don't worry we'll get you to my mother's in a matter of minutes," I told her before picking her up and placing her in the back of the car. The other guardian drove while I stayed in the back and held Rose's head on my lap. I caressed her face and moved strands of hair away from her eyes.

She groaned and stirred in pain. "Shh," I said as soothingly as possible, "everything is going to be fine."

I took out my cell phone and barely managed to dial my house phone with shaking hands. It rang only once before someone answered. "Don't worry Dimka, Oksana is here and she will heal Rose," said my mother.

"Oksana? Who is—"

"Just bring her here quickly," interjected my mother.

"Yes mama." The only conclusion that I could come up with was that my grandmother had probably told them we would be coming and in need of help. I looked down at Rose whose face was scrunched up in pain. It hurt me to see her in this condition, and to know that we could lose the babies tore me up into a million pieces. I wouldn't forgive myself if something happened to any of them. I should have been more alert when we got out and I shouldn't have allowed the driver to pull over in the first place. Rose's life was worth more than his suit and the interior of the car.

"Dimitri…" she whimpered.

I grabbed her hand and brought it up to my lips. "I'm right here."

"The…babies," she said between heavy breaths.

"I know, don't worry we're almost there," I said giving her hand a squeeze.

She squeezed my hand in return like if she was clutching to her dear life. "I'm scared…have to…save them…" Then her grasp sagged and her hand fell. "Roza. Roza!" She didn't respond. "Roza come on, stay with me." Tears were welling up in my eyes and they were on the verge of spilling. "You have to stay with me. You have to stay for me, I need you." I couldn't lose her, I couldn't. Not again.

"We're here," said the driver.

I quickly got Rose and ran to the front door which my mother was holding open. "Come on," she said leading me to a room. I placed Rose on the bed and a woman, who I presumed was Oksana, came to kneel in front of Rose. She placed her hands on top of Rose's chest while I knelt beside her head.

After a long moment she spoke. "She's not healing."

My head snapped up. "What do you mean she's not healing?" I asked panicked. I looked at Rose and noticed how her breaths came in ragged gasps and how she had turned very pale.

"Well I'm healing but she's still somehow injured," she said. "She's not healing."

I racked my brain trying to find something that could help. "She's pregnant," I said. "Maybe it's the babies that you have to heal." The news of the pregnancy earned a surprised look from Oksana and gasps from my family that was watching from the doorway. Oksana moved her hands down to hover above Rose's stomach. Slowly I started seeing her tan return along with the soft pink on her cheeks. Her breathing became steady and her eyes fluttered open. She looked around the room with a look that said she was lost and disoriented, then her eyes found mine and I gave her a reassuring smile.

"How are you feeling?" I said placing my hand on her cheek.

She swallowed and closed her eyes before slowly opening them again. "The pain is mostly gone, but I feel tired," she said with droopy eyes.

I caressed her cheek with my thumb. "It's fine, rest. Everything is okay now."

"Are the babies…?" She didn't finish the sentence, either fearing the worst or just too tired to finish it.

I shook my head. "They're fine, don't worry." I kissed her forehead. "Now rest, my Roza." She nodded and closed her eyes. I turned to Oksana. "Is she fine now?"

"Yes, she is fine. Just to make sure you might want to visit an obstetrician when Rose is feeling better." She handed me a plain silver ring. "Put it on Rose's finger. It will provide more healing if she needs it."

I nodded sliding the ring on Rose's finger. "Thank you so much for everything. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here."

"Don't worry about it, dear. I'm glad I could help," she said with a smile.

"Why don't you come have some tea," said my mother before she led Oksana out of the room.

I was left in the room with my three sisters and a sleeping Rose. The air hung with their unspoken questions and burning curiosity circling Rose's pregnancy. I sighed. "Yes Rose is pregnant."

Sonya came and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry Dimitri."

I looked up at her confused. "Why?"

"Because … Rose is pregnant," she said slowly.

My sisters most likely thought a Moroi was the father, thus sparking the pity for me. "Actually, I'm the father," I said with a slight grin. Victoria blurted out an "oh my god!" while Karolina went with a shocked "what?"

Now Sonya was the one with the confused expression. "Dimitri you know that's not possible. How did this happen?"

I shook my head and shrugged. I had given this much thought since I had found out, but I couldn't figure out how this had actually happened. It truly was a miracle.

Sonya had an unsure look on her face. "Are you sure you're the father?"

I nodded. "Rose said she hasn't been with anyone else and I trust her."

She still looked unsure. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

I stood up and looked at each of them. "I know it's not supposed to be possible, but it somehow managed to happen. I have no doubt that those babies are mine, and Rose and I would appreciate your support through all of this."

Karolina came forward to stand in front of me. "Of course you have our support. Even if they weren't yours, we would still help Rose through this. And if you say they are yours, then we believe it too."

"Thank you," I said relieved.

They all surrounded me then and hugged me. "I love you _syestras_."

Victoria was giggling when she abruptly stopped. "Wait, why do you keep saying babies?"

"Because we're having twins." They all awed in unison, which made me laugh. Rose stirred behind me, reminding me that she was sleeping. "Maybe we should let Rose sleep in peace."

They nodded and left the room promptly. I looked down at Rose who was now peacefully sleeping. It was rare when I got to see Rose like this, calm and at peace. She was always cracking her wise jokes and speaking her mind, but that's what I loved about her. She wasn't afraid to fight for what she wanted and she wasn't afraid to speak her mind.

And now she had given me the thing I had wanted the most. I know I had never admitted it to her, but knowing that we couldn't bear children together had always made me sad. I had always dismissed the feeling as soon as it came, but sometimes it would take over. Now I had everything I could ever ask for.

I bent down and lied down next to Rose. Putting my arm over her waist, I snuggled up behind her, burying my face in her hair that smelled ironically like roses. I was contemplating our future when I fell asleep, finally overcome by the residue of the adrenaline from the day's events.

**Rose POV**

When I woke up I felt Dimitri next to me with his arm over my waist. For a second, I thought we were still back in Alaska but then memories of the previous day came rushing back to me. My eyes flew open and I shot up in bed, which admittedly, made me dizzy. The contents of the room only blurred for a moment before they came to stop in their rightful places.

Feeling my sudden movement Dimitri sat up. "What's wrong?" he asked startled. I looked down at my stomach and placed a hand over my little bump. Dimitri looked down at my hand then back up to my face. "Are you in pain?"

I shook my head. I wasn't in any pain, but I couldn't remember anything after passing out in the car. I only remembered feeling excruciating pain in my abdomen and fearing terribly, not for my own life, but for the growing ones inside me. I felt tears stinging at the side of my eyes. I hoped nothing had happened to them. I looked up at Dimitri. "Are…are they okay?" I asked, searching his eyes for the answer.

I was relieved when I saw him look at me earnestly and nod. "Oksana was here when we arrived. She healed you."

I closed my eyes and let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding. "I had been so worried that we would lose them," I voiced out loud.

"Me too," said Dimitri with a grave look. "But you're feeling better now?"

I nodded and looked down at my hand, noticing that I was wearing a ring. "You didn't propose to me while I was out did you?" I asked jokingly. A small part of me wishing it were true.

He gave me a small smile. "No, Oksana infused that ring with some of her powers in case you needed more healing."

"Good, because I am much too young to get tied down."

"Oh really?" said Dimitri lifting up an eyebrow.

"Yup. I'm not even going to have children until I'm 30," I said playfully. When Dimitri didn't laugh with me I realized he might have thought I was being serious. He must have thought that I didn't want to have the babies that were on the way. I stopped laughing and grabbed his hand. "I was just kidding. I didn't mean it."

He placed his other hand on top of mine. "Would you want to?"

"Would I want to what?" I asked confused.

"Would you want to get married?"

His question took me off guard. I had never given much thought to this, never even really considered it. Not until the thought had crossed my mind when I saw the ring on my finger. But now here was Dimitri…asking me to marry him? Was he really asking me to marry him, or was his asking if I liked the idea of it? "Umm," was the only response I could come up with.

Dimitri walked over to the dresser and grabbed a black bag that was on it. He sat back down on the bed and handed me the bag. It was sort of heavy and reaching inside I took out one of those globes that had water and little figurines inside it. But mine had an incredible replica of St. Basil's. The same structure that I had marveled at in the red square was in the palms of my hands, just as beautiful as the real one. When I shook it and snow started falling on the building, but it was a shining object that caught my attention. On the highest tower nestled at the very top was a ring. And it wasn't just a plain ring like Oksana's, it was a ring that had small diamonds along the band and a bigger diamond in the middle.

A shocked gasp escaped my lips when I realized what it was. "What's this Dimitri?" I asked out of breath.

He smiled and kneeled on one knee. _Oh my god_, I thought, _he's going to propose_. My breathing quickened and my heart started beating so fast I thought it was going to jump out of my chest.

"Roza, I've known you for all of one year and although it may not seem like a long time to others, to me it has felt like an eternity. Our relationship has been through a lot, many things of which normal relationships don't have to endure. But it has been those obstacles that have made me so sure of what we have. I love you with all of my being and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." He grabbed my hand and kissed it. "Rosemarie Hathaway, would you do me the honor of being my wife?"

I, Rosemarie Hathaway, was left speechless. A million thoughts crossed my mind at that moment. How would people react to this? Dhampir marriages were rarely seen and mostly shunned. And how would my parents react to this? I had been nervous enough just telling Abe I was pregnant and my mother didn't even know about that yet. Was I ready to not only be a mom but also a wife? I got lost in my rambling thoughts, and when I didn't answer Dimitri spoke. "Rose?" he probed.

I looked back at him, remembering that he was waiting for my response. "No," I said.

"No?" he repeated confused.

"No, I mean yes. I just wanted to see how refusing would feel."

"So…yes?"

"Of course!" I said reaching out and giving him a tight hug. "You know, now my mother will have an even better reason to pull out her chainsaw. And Abe, remember how he reacted to my pregnancy? Well let's just see how he handles this," I said.

"I don't know how your mother will react to all this news, but as for your father, he already knows."

"What?" I said pulling back. How did my father know that I was getting married even before I did?

He had an amused look on his face and he was doing the cool one eyebrow thing. "You didn't think I would ask you to be my wife before asking your hand from your father?"

I smiled and shook my head. "You are so old fashioned."

"But that's why you love me," he said leaning over and giving me a sweet and passionate kiss.

I pulled back gasping for air and looked at the globe. "How did you manage to put that in there anyways? And when did you do it?" My mind was flooded with possible ideas on how he did it, but none seemed plausible.

He winked and smiled. "Guardian secrets."

"Come on, tell me," I groaned. He only smiled and shook his head. "Well, if you're not going to tell me, then go make me something to eat because I am starving."

"What do you want?" he said standing up.

"Surprise me."

He kissed the top of my head and left the room, closing the door softly behind him. I looked over at the clock on the wall that said it was 8 am. Ugh, why had I woken up so early? I remained there in my own bubble of happiness when a strong wave of emotions hit me and sucked me into Lissa's head.

It was dark and she was stumbling outside in the court, barely making out where she was walking. A heavy smoke hung in the air that both impaired her breathing and her vision. She was scared. Really, really scared. Like the kind of scared where you fear for your life.

Reaching out with her hand she felt something solid and pressed her back against it. She could hear screams and noises all around her, making her cringe and press tighter against the wall. _Oh god, what is going on? _

She had been walking to her room from the spa when all the chaos erupted. First there had been a loud crack and then people had started running and screaming everywhere. It faintly reminded her of the scene in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when all the Death Eaters invaded the camps at the Quiditch World Cup.

_I wish Rose was here,_ she thought. _She would be able to protect me from all this. _She was so scared she had started crying with her eyes tightly shut. When she felt a hand cover her mouth her eyes flew open. If possible, she became more afraid.

She struggled against the person until they whispered in her ear. "Lissa stop, it's me Christian."

As soon as those words left his lips, she recognized Christian's smell and the feel of his body against hers. She flung her arms around him and hugged him tight. "Oh Christian," she whispered in his ear. She was so relieved to see him.

"Come on, we have to get out of here," he said grabbing her hand and leading her away. She didn't ask questions and simply followed where he lead her. They ended up in the court's church which was crowded with people. They looked around searching for familiar faces until finally coming across Mia.

They made their way to her, walking past some injured people along the way. "I'm so glad you two are okay," said Mia with clear relief on her face.

"What's going on?" asked Lissa frantically.

"We've been attacked," she said gravely.

"By who?" asked Lissa, fearing the answer she knew was coming.

"Strigoi."

**Oh a cliffie, I'm so mean lol**

**I have to admit something though. That proposal scene, I kind of got inspiration from a certain movie...can anyone guess which one?**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey y'all! No I havent abandoned you guys, but what can I tell you? I had stuff going on. Same excuse as always huh? Well this time I really mean it. My dog had a puppy and I was busy trying to take care of both of them. Five days after her birth, the puppy died unexplicably and I got a little depressed and didn't feel like writting. But I'm better now and ready to write! As always Richelle Mead owns all :)**

**Enjoy!**

**Daisy**

**Chapter 13**

_**Rose POV**_

"_I'm so glad you two are okay," said Mia with clear relief on her face._

"_What's going on?" asked Lissa frantically. _

"_We've been attacked," she said gravely._

"_By who?" asked Lissa, fearing the answer she knew was coming._

"_Strigoi." _

I was snapped back into my body by Dimitri's vigorous shaking. "What's going on Rose?"

"Lissa…" I whispered. I was so in shock that I couldn't think of what else to say.

"Did something happen to Lissa?"

I shook my head and looked up at him. "No, but the court has just been attacked."

"Just now?"

I nodded. "Strigoi have swarmed into the court and Lissa is hiding in the church."

"That's good, Strigoi can't go in there."

Closing my eyes, I let out an exasperated breath and rubbed my temples. Dimitri sat next to me and rubbed my shoulder. "Everything will be okay, don't stress about it."

My head snapped up, finally feeling the gravity of everything that was going on. "I can't help feeling like this. I should be there. What kind of guardian—what kind of friend am I if I'm not even there in the first place to protect her?"

"Rose, stop doing this to yourself. I know you wanted to be her guardian, but things have changed and you have to accept that. Both of you will have to deal with it." I had come to this realization on my own but I just didn't want to admit it. Being Lissa's guardian was all I had focused on for as long as I can remember.

"But Lissa has been there for me since we were in kindergarten. She's like a sister to me and she's the only family that has been there for me throughout my whole life." I took in a deep breath. "Everything is just piling up and I can't take it. It's too much for me to handle." I closed my eyes and a tear escaped. "And if anything happens to her, I won't forgive myself."

Dimitri reached out and wiped my tear away. "You have to be strong Rose. Your fear for Lissa is understandable, but unnecessary. There are many, many, many guardians at court that will protect everyone and fight off the Stirgoi. Lissa is the last Dragomir, I'm sure she will have extra protection."

I knew what Dimitri was saying was true, but I still couldn't shake off the feeling of desperation. I should have been by her side to start off with. "Maybe we should call Abe, see if he can help in some way."

"That's a good idea," said Dimitri, taking out his cell phone and dialing Abe's number.

Dimitri was still waiting for Abe to answer when I was sucked back into Lissa's head. She was feeling hysterical and afraid.

"Christian please don't," she pleaded.

"But Lissa I can help," he argued.

"I don't want anything to happen to you," she said in a low voice. Christian's pale blue eyes looked back at her, mesmerizing her and almost making her forget everything. Almost. "Please don't go. Stay here with me."

He cupped her face and gave her a light kiss. "I'll be okay," he said before leaving her there with Mia.

Lissa broke down then, sitting down on the nearest pew as her legs gave out. Mia sat next to her and rubbed her arm gently. "Don't worry, he'll be fine. He knows how to protect himself."

"Yeah, he's just doing this to look tough and macho in front of you." Lissa looked up to see Adrian standing there with his usual laid back smile despite all the fear and anxiousness surrounding them. Many remarks occurred to her, including some that were hurtful and angry, but she simply looked down and remained quiet. She couldn't believe that Adrian was acting so nonchalant in a situation like this.

"Hey, I'm sorry I didn't mean for it to sound that way," he said sitting next to her. "He'll be fine." He reached out and hugged her reassuringly. Relief washed over me to know that Adrian, Lissa and Mia were both fine.

I managed to pull myself back into my own head right as Dimitri was finishing his call. "Yes, I'll tell her that. Good bye," he said closing the cell phone. "Where you back in Lissa's head?" He must have noticed my spaced out look.

"Christian has just left her to go fight Strigoi." I shook my head. "Fire boy just can't find any more reasons to stress Lissa out. When I get a hold of him, I'm going to kick his butt."

"He shouldn't be risking himself that way," said Dimitri disapprovingly. "Your dad told me to tell you that everything was going to be okay and that he's on his way to the court with a large group of his men."

"What? What do you mean he's on his way to the court? He can get hurt!" I exclaimed.

"He's going to be fine. His men will provide protection for him and it's not like he's going to be out there in the action," he tried to reassure.

I took in a deep breath of air to help me calm down. "Everything is just so messed up."

Dimitri put his hands on my shoulders and started giving me a soothing massage. "Everything will turn out fine."

"Let's hope so." I silently prayed that no one I cared about got hurt.

**Abe POV **

"Look, I'm on your side. I want to find this person just as much as you do," I tried to convince the Alchemist. I had been talking to this man for the past five minutes, trying to convince him the easy way that I was on his side. But he was proving to be a tough little guy.

He sighed angrily. "I told you already, those files are not accessible to people other than Alchemists."

"Look," I said in a low, menacing voice, "I'm trying to do this the easy way but you are making it very hard for me. If you don't agree to it through free will, I am going to have to coerce you into agreement." My menacing tone must have stuck a cord in him because his eyes widened and he nodded. My compulsion also might have had something to do with it.

The man opened a door behind him and I followed him inside. The room was big, with tall cabinets that held all the information on Moroi and Dhampirs. We didn't have to walk too far in, seeing as how the cabinets were in alphabetical order. The person who had taken Eric's file didn't know that the Alchemists also had copies, which was what I was about to get.

The man unlocked a file cabinet and opened it to reveal file after file of information. He reached in and took out a file that he handed to me. "That has all the information that we have, including copies of what was stolen."

"Now, was that so hard?" I gave him a satisfied smile and took the file from his hands. "Next time—" I was interrupted when my cell phone started ringing.

I opened it and heard a voice on the other end. "Rose, Rose?"

"Hello?" I answered.

"Oh Abe, its Dimitri."

"What's wrong? Is Rose alright?" Belikov never called unless it was urgent or important.

"No she's fine now. Oksana was here to heal her and now she's better. Rose has just slipped into Lissa's head again. I'm calling because the court has just been attacked by Strigoi."

A humorless chuckle escaped my lips. "Of course. They kill the queen and wait until everything is in turmoil to attack." I left the Alchemist and started making my way to my guardians.

"Rose is afraid that something might happen to Lissa."

I had reached my guardians and we were now making our way towards the car. "Tell her not to worry, I'm on my way to the court and I will take more of my men with me. I won't let anything happen to Vasilissa."

"I'll tell her that when she comes back into her own head."

"Okay. And Dimitri?"

"Yes?"

"I'm counting on you to take care of her."

"Of course. I will guard her with my life."

"I'll see you soon," I said before hanging up. "We're going to the court," I told the driver as we were pulling away. I dialed Milo's number and waited for him to answer. Milo was my right hand man, the one I trusted to do all the work that I couldn't or didn't want to do.

Right when I was about to hang up he answered. "Milo Smirnov."

"Milo I'm going to need you to get as many of my men as you can and take them to the court. It has just been attacked by Strigoi and I have a feeling they might be needing reinforcements."

"Right away A be. We'll be there shortly."

"See you there." I hung up and exhaled.

Now I understood why they had killed the queen. Tatiana's murder had been a way to get the court weak without anyone to give out orders. Sure the royal families took lead while they chose the new king or queen, but it was harder for a group of people to come to an agreement than it was for an individual to make a decision.

My only thought now was that whoever killed the queen and framed Rose somehow had an alliance with Strigoi. What I couldn't figure out was why they wanted Rose out of the way.

When we arrived at the court we waited in the car until Milo arrived with the rest of my men. As soon as I opened my door, the sounds of a raging battle carried on to me. I could hear screams in the distance and the smell of burning flesh was potent in the air. Occasionally I would hear loud explosions accompanied by a flash of light that would blind me.

I looked at two of my best guardians. "You two head over the church and protect Vasilissa. Make sure nothing happens to her." They promptly nodded and left the rest of us at the entrance.

We made our way through the court, alert to any noise we heard. Finally we reached the court's quad that was filled with Strigoi and guardians consumed in battle. Immediately all my men entered the fight, but I remained where I was, unsure of what to do. I could join the fight, I wasn't as good as a guardian, but I did have knowledge of how to fight and having fire as my element would really help me. I could also just go to the church where Vasilissa was and make sure that nothing happened to her. After considering my options I decided to join in the struggle. The fighting called to me and my element would be helpful to the other guardians fighting.

I looked for Milo in the crowd but couldn't find him, so instead I decided to go solo on this. I took out my stake and made my way to the nearest Strigoi I could find. I always had at least two guardians and I wasn't a guardian myself, but I liked carrying a stake around just in case.

I was creeping up on a Strigoi that was winning a fight with a guardian when a blow caught me in my back. I stumbled a few feet forward but managed to get my balance back before I fell flat on my face. I turned around just in time to duck and avoid a blow that was heading toward my face. I quickly commanded my element and the Strigoi caught on fire. He let out a scream of pain and I took the opportunity and staked him.

This was the first Strigoi I had ever killed, and it was hard. I had to push the stake really hard to make sure that it went in all the way. I pulled out the stake and as I was walking I bumped into someone. I whirled around and expected to see a Strigoi but instead was faced with young Moroi boy. It was Rose's friend, the Ozera boy.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"What does it look like? I'm helping kick Strigoi ass," he retorted.

"Snarky aren't you?" I said. "Since it looks like you're insistent on fighting, stay with me. We can both take down Strigoi and watch out for each other."

"Okay," he said with a nod.

Together we fought on, taking down Strigoi after Strigoi with barely a scratch on us thanks to our shared element of fire. The time seemed to pass by fast, so I have no idea how long we actually fought for until the fighting ceased. The Ozera boy and I were making our way to the church when a Strigoi came out of the shadows and hit the boy so hard that he fell to the floor with a loud, sickening crack. I kicked the Strigoi as hard as I could but it barely seemed to faze him. He came at me and tackled me to the floor, pinning me down with his weight.

_Damn it, Rose is going to be furious with me if she finds out I fought and let something happen to me. _

The Strigoi was reaching for neck when I felt him get pulled off. I opened my eyes— which I hadn't realized that I had closed in the first place— to see Milo kneeling on top of the now dead Strigoi.

"You okay?" he said offering me his hand.

I took it and stood up. "Yes I'm fine. It's the Ozera boy that needs help."

Milo nodded and picked him up. "Everyone is inside the church right now. We should take him there."

When we entered the church it was filled with injured people and those trying to help them. We had been looking for a place to set him down when Vasilissa came running toward us.

Her hand flew to her mouth as she took in the sight of the boy. "What happened? Is he okay?"

I shook my head. "I'm afraid he took a hard blow to the head."

"Set him down," she said. Milo followed the order and backed away from the boy.

Vasilissa knelt in front of the boy and extended her hands on top of his body. Miraculously, I started seeing how the blood from his wounds retracted and his eyes opened as he took in a loud, audible breath. Vasilissa let out a sigh of relief and hugged him. "Christian I told you not to go out there."

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't just stay here."

"Don't ever do that to me again."

Things were starting to get too sentimental for me so I decided to leave. I wasn't a heartless mobster but when things started getting emotional it made me a bit uncomfortable. Milo and the other two guardians followed behind me when they saw me retreat.

"So how many casualties did we have?"

A sad look crossed Milo's face. "We lost a lot of the newly promised guardians as well as some of our long time guardians."

Anger boiled in me. If it wasn't for that new ruling that was passed, those young guardians would have had more time to prepare for fighting Strigoi. Rose had been an exception, not a regular novice. "How did those undead bastards even manage to get inside?" The court was supposed to be one of the safest places with it being heavily guarded and all.

"Humans," said one of the guardians. "It seems they've been breaking the wards with stakes for a while now."

**Oh Christian, always wanting to get in on the action!**

**Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and dont forget to review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys, so first of all I hope everyone will have an awesome Labor Day weekend. LOL No school on Monday, now how you feel about that? It feels awesome to me, No College. So for this chapter our dear storywriter Daisy is unable to upload it because her and her family have gone to Washington state as a mini vacation! Let us all wish her a good one and hope she meets Richelle Mead! I'm her beta for the story, Maribel! I just want to say thank you all for your comments and for reading this story! I got to say sometimes it feels that I'm reading the actual book but then think 'Wait, I have to edited' LOL. Enough about my chatting! **

**Enjoy!**

**Maribel **

**Chapter 14**

**Abe POV **

I shook my head. "Fucking humans, always want more power than they can handle."

"I can't believe it either," said Milo. "It feels like no place is safe now."

"This is why they are doing this, to evoke fear in everyone. People who are afraid are easier to manipulate," I said as everything started unraveling in my head. "Something big is brewing. Something that no one is expecting and I don't like. Not one bit."

Rose had just been a distraction to lead everyone away from the killer, but I wasn't fooled so easily. We hadn't made much progress on who the killer actually was, but we had a good list of suspects. We had started with many people but had managed to narrow it down to around five people.

Thinking of Rose reminded me that I should give her a call and tell her that everyone was okay. I dialed Belikov's number and waited for an answer.

It had rung only once when he picked up on the other end. "Dad is everyone okay?"

"Belikov I know you're going to pop the question, but don't you think it's a little too soon to start calling me that? I mean Rose hasn't even accepted yet."

"Uh, it's Rose not Dimitri," she said slowly.

Ooops, hope I didn't just ruin that for Belikov. "Oh, err…" I trailed off, not sure what to say. I could have just ruined my daughter's proposal.

"Don't worry, he already proposed."

Whew, got saved from that one. "And you said…?"

"Yes, of course." I could practically hear the smile on her face.

"I'm happy for you _kiz_. I was just calling to tell you that Vasilissa is fine. Her and your other little friends are fine too." As I said this I turned to see Vasilissa, who was still hugging Christian, sitting next to the Ivashkov boy and a petite girl I didn't recognize.

"Oh thank god," she sighed.

"What, don't you trust me? I told you she would be safe."

"No, of course I trusted you." We were both silent until she asked the question I knew was coming. "How many guardians died?" she asked in a low voice.

"I'm not sure, but we did lose a lot of the newly promised guardians." She didn't respond to that and she was so quiet I thought she had hung up. "Rose?"

"I'm still here."

"What are you thinking?"

"I can't help feeling like this is my fault. They used me as an example and now there's a bunch of unprepared teenagers protecting fucking old Moroi who are too afraid to fight for themselves."

"Don't beat yourself up kid, you couldn't have known that what you did was going to spur this decision."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Look I have to go, but I'll talk to you later. If you need anything don't hesitate to call."

"Okay. Take care old man."

I hung up with a smile on my face. I hadn't known Rose for a long time, but my girl was growing on me. She always managed to make me smile with her witty comments and retorts. It sort of made me wish that I had been in her life more when she was growing up.

"Abe..?" I was snapped out of my thoughts by Milo. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, just thinking..."

"Well we should get a move on, then. We still have to meet that person."

"Right." We were walking away when I remembered something. "Milo, did we lose any men?" I don't know how it could have slipped my mind.

He shook his head. "No, we're all fine."

"Good, tell them to go back to base and I'll wait for you in the car."

As he nodded and walked away I made my way towards Vasilissa. She was no longer crying and hugging the boy but she was still holding his hand. "May I have a word with you Vasilissa?" She looked a little surprised but agreed anyways. I led her to a corner where we were out of earshot from anyone. This thought had only occurred to me now, but I thought it would be best for Rose. "How would you like to go to Russia?"

Her confusion grew even more. "Umm…Russia?"

I nodded and lowered my voice. "I think Rose would like to see you."

Her eyes widened. "You know where she is?"

"Yes and this incident has only made her worry about you even more. I think she would be more at ease if she was near you."

"Of course I want to go with her. What will I tell everyone though?"

"Don't worry, leave that all to me. We can just say that you are taking a much needed vacation but you will not disclose where you are going for protection issues. I will arrange for you and your boyfriend to leave as soon as it becomes light outside. You will take my private jet and you'll have at least three guardians with you at all times." I looked at my watch. "Sunrise will be in a few hours so you won't have much time to pack."

"Doesn't matter, I'll be ready by then." She surprised me by giving me a hug and I awkwardly put an arm around her. "Thank you so much," she said in my ear.

"Don't worry about it. Just be sure not to tell anyone except your boyfriend. And I mean absolutely not one person. I still don't think it's safe for anyone to know where Rose is."

She nodded in agreement. "I won't tell anyone."

I put my hand on her shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze. "Thank you."

After nodding goodbye to the other kids I walked out of the church. As I made my way across the court's quad, I passed by the remnants of the battle. Dead bodies and blood littered the floor like garbage in an abandoned town. I was so distracted by my thoughts that I didn't notice there was someone in front of me until I ran into a wall of flesh.

I looked up expecting to see red eyes but instead was faced with a pair of eyes that I knew all too well. "Janine?"

"I'm so glad to see you Abe." Relief was clear in her voice.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were with your Moroi in Finland?" Well at least that's what I had heard.

"I was but my charge had some business to take care of here at court. We were about to leave when this attack happened so I decided to stay and help out." Looking at her more closely I noticed how her face had a few bruises and her clothes had dirt and blood stains. But apart from that she looked perfectly fine. She was a lethal woman with the same character as Rose, I was starting to realize.

"So how have you been?" I asked.

"Where's Rose?"

"Excuse me? What makes you think that I know where she is?"

"Don't play with me Abe. I know that you know where she is."

I looked at her but didn't say anything, unsure of whether to tell her or not. She stared back at me with a dangerous gaze that said if I didn't tell her she would break my arm. Then her eyes softened and she looked down. "Please Abe, I've been worried sick about her since she disappeared."

I sighed. "Okay fine, I do know where she is," I said giving in.

"Is she okay?"

A small chuckle escaped my lips. "If only you knew."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well… I'm not sure if…umm… I am the… the umm… right person to tell you." Rose might chew off my head if I told Janine and she didn't want her to know.

"You can't just bait me like that and decide not tell me in the end."

"Fine but don't take it out on me alright?"

"Just tell me already." I could see the frustration clearly written all over her face.

"Our daughter, Rose, is… umm pregnant and engaged," I mumbled.

Janine stared back at me with her mouth hanging open and an incredulous look that said she couldn't believe a word that had come out of my mouth. "She…she's pregnant _and_ engaged? No… but she's only been away for like… two months!"

I shrugged. "Things happen in a blink of an eye."

"How can you be okay with this? She's only eighteen!"

"Well she's going to be nineteen in a couple of days and if she's happy then I'm going to support her."

"Abe she doesn't know what she's doing and she's too young to have a child! I don't want her to make the same mistake that I—" She stopped abruptly, realizing what she was going to say.

"Make the same mistake that what? That you did? You don't give her enough credit Janine. She has been through more than both our lifetimes put together. _You_ might regret having Rose but I sure don't." Her comment stung a little bit.

"Abe I… I didn't mean it that way. I'm just saying that I wish I had waited to have Rose until I was ready."

"Look its fine. Just know that she's safe and happy."

I turned around to leave but she surprised me by grabbing my hand. "Wait," she said.

The hand that she was holding felt like it was on fire. The time that Janine and I had spent together had been filled with passion and love that still sparked through my being. She still managed to bring up those buried feelings from within me. I swallowed and turned around to face her.

She was looking up at me with loving eyes that were rare on her face. She always had a hard, serious looks that never reveal her feelings. "I'm sorry. Rose is one of the best things that happened to me and I don't regret having her. It's just that this attack has me a little shaken up."

She was still holding my hand that felt like it was about to erupt. I looked down at our joined hands and back up to her face. "Don't worry Jane; I know you love our daughter just as much as I have come to love her."

She nodded. "Will you at least tell me if Adrian knows?"

"What are you talking about?" I was confused. "Wait you think… hahaha…the baby is not Adrian's."

Her eyes snapped open. "What? So she got pregnant from a different Moroi and ran off with him?"

I shook my head. "A Moroi didn't get her pregnant."

"Was it a human then?" I smiled and shook my head but didn't say anything. She looked confused but then a look of understanding replaced her features. "Come on, you can't expect me to believe that another dhampir got her pregnant."

My smile grew wider as I nodded. "Oh come on Abe, don't play games. Now tell me who the father is."

"It's Dimitri Belikov."

"Guardian Belikov…? As in her instructor from…from …St. Vladimir's?"

"Yes."

"I can't believe it. I don't even know how to react to this. How do you expect me to believe that Guardian Belikov got her pregnant?"

I shrugged and shook my head. "It's the big mystery that we're trying to figure out. Rose is positive that Belikov is the father because she says she hasn't been with anyone else."

"They were in a relationship when she was still a student huh? This is unbelievable. Is he the one that she's marrying?"

I nodded. "He's not so bad Jane. We all know he's a respectable guardian and he'll be able to protect Rose from anything."

"I'm going to have a serious talk with both of them."

"Glad you're happy. Now if you will excuse me I have some business to take care of. See you around grandma."

"Very funny Abe. Tell Rose that I'm going to have a talk with her."

"You got it boss."

As I walked away I heard her mutter faintly, "I'm going to be a grandma."

When I got to the car Milo and my other two guardians were already inside waiting for me.

"What took you so long?" said Milo.

"Just ran into Janine."

He smiled and waggled eyebrows. "And how did that go?"

"Oh grow up Milo." I retorted as we got into the car and drove away.

_How had it gone?_ I thought to myself. I had expected her to pound me to a bloody pulp for allowing this but she had given in quickly. Maybe she secretly liked the idea of becoming a grandmother.

Half an hour later we arrived at a diner that bustling with costumers. The man had agreed to meet us here because of the large crowds that usually lingered in the diner. I looked around and knew I had found the right guy when I saw man sitting by himself in a corner booth.

"Good evening," I said when I reached him. "I'm Abe Mazur."

He stood up and extended his arm. "Mr. Mazur, pleasure to meet you."

We shook hands and then took a seat across from each other. There was no point wasting time with small talk so I got right to it. "Where is Miros?"

"The last time I saw her was when I helped her escape to Russia with her husband and a baby boy."

"And you haven't talked to her since?"

He shrugged. "I talked to her occasionally, but I haven't heard from her for over a year. Last I heard she was in a dhampir commune outside of Omsk living with her husband and boy."

"Outside of Omsk? Are you referring to Baia?"

He nodded. "Yes that one. Her boy was going to St. Basil's Academy and if I'm not mistaken this is his last year before graduating."

"What is his name?"

"Nikolai. Nikolai Malenkov."

Nikolai Malenkov… I think I had seen him at Baia when I had been urging Rose to come back home. But it couldn't be, could it? I would have to go check this out myself. As a matter of fact, I would go with Vasilissa to Baia in a few hours. I had completely forgotten about the man until he cleared his throat. "Oh, is there anything else you can tell me?"

He shook his head. "No I'm sorry."

I stood up. "Okay well nice to meet you Mr…?"

"Ronald West."

"Well Mr. West, thank for your time and information." I took out a wad of money and handed it over to him. "Here's for your troubles."

He smiled at me. "Any time Mr. Mazur."

I nodded and walked outside with Milo and my guardians.

"Where to Mr. Mazur?" asked the guardian driving.

"Back to Court." He nodded and took off. I turned to Milo who was sitting next to me. "How are we doing on the search for the killer?"

"It's tricky Abe. Right when we think we've got the right one, we get evidence that proves us otherwise. The good news is that we've narrowed the list down to two people."

"Two? Really? That's great, we're close now."

He nodded. "And I have a feeling I think I know which of those two the actual killer is."

His comment sparked my curiosity. "Really? Who do you think it is?"

"Well I don't think he's the killer per say because he hasn't been spotted near here, but I have a feeling he's involved in this."

"Who?"

"Who else? Victor Dashkov. He's been missing since everything started happening."

"But you don't think he's the killer?"

He shook his head. "I think he got someone on the inside to do his dirty work."

Of course, I had been so caught up with everything else that I had failed to see the most obvious suspect. "We should get some men trying to find him."

He smiled. "Already ahead of you. I've told our best investigators to find him."

I nodded in approval. "Good." I looked down at my watch. One hour until sunrise. "Milo, call and get the jet ready to go."

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to Russia."

**Who will it be? I have to admit I can't wait to find out for Daisy writes and from there I find out but still... Dum-Dum-Dum-Dum... Till next chapter! You all now be safe for Labor Day weekend ok. God Bless you!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello everyone! Wow it feels like I've been gone for a year! lol And I have some important anouncements to make. First off, this is my beta Maribel's last chapter that she will be correcting :( So say your farewells to Maribel and welcome Cathy who will be my new beta from now on. And secondly, I will be starting college next Thursday. What does this have to do with the story? you might be wondering. Well I don't know how much homework I will have, so chapters might take a little longer to be posted up. Have no worries though, I am going to finish the story. So take a sigh of relief and read ahead. As always, Richelle Mead owns all.**

**Enjoy!**

**Daisy :)**

**Chapter 15**

_**Rose**_

It had been a day since the attack on the court, but it still had me paranoid. I was afraid that it would get attacked again and Lissa would get hurt this time.

How I wished that it could be like old times when we were still at the academy and I could see her every day. I had checked on her through the bond once right after the attack. She had been sitting with Christian, Mia and Adrian but they hadn't been saying much so I left.

I let out a sleepy sigh. It was early in the morning but for some reason I had woken up. I usually slept until 10 or sometimes even later. When I'd woken up Dimitri hadn't been in bed but I was too lazy to go look for him. So instead I'd remained in bed worrying about Lissa.

I looked at the clock and just as I'd suspected, it was early. 7 am, ugh. Just as I was getting up Dimitri came in with a big tray in his hands.

"What's this?" I asked surprised.

He grinned at me. "Breakfast in bed for the beautiful mommy to be."

I smiled up at him. "You spoil me too much. I might just get used to it and make you do this every day."

He chuckled and set the tray in my lap. "Eat up because we have an appointment later on today."

"Appointment where?"

"I scheduled one today with the obstetrician in town."

"Won't people see me though?" I was after all the most wanted murderer in our world and this community was filled with dhampirs.

He shrugged. "We'll be as inconspicuous as possible. The important thing is that we get you checked out and make sure that everything is okay."

I nodded and dug into my pile of breakfast. Dimitri just sat there and watched me eat. I swallowed my mouth full and told him, "Aren't you going to eat?"

He shook his head. "I'll eat later."

"I don't want you watching me while I'm stuffing myself. There's food here for like three people. You should eat too."

"Roza, its fine. You have lives growing inside you, I don't."

I set my fork down and crossed my arms over my chest. "I'm not going to eat unless you eat with me." I knew I was making a big deal out of it, but I really didn't want him watching me eat. It made me feel like a little pig eating all that food while he just watched. After a few moments he gave in and we both ate.

"That," I said once we were done, "might just have been your greatest breakfast yet Comrade."

He smiled. "Well if—" he was interrupted by his cell. "Belikov," he answered. A shocked look crossed his face before he answered to the other person on the phone. "Hello Guardian Hathaway."

Guardian Hathaway? Holly shit, my mom was on the other end. What if she knew that I was pregnant? What was I supposed to tell her now? "Put her on speaker," I whispered to Dimitri.

He pressed a button and then I could hear her clearly. "I want you to tell me what is going on."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about. Is it true that you and my daughter are together?" Her voice was calm, but there was an undertone to it that made my skin crawl.

"Yes that is true." I reached over and grabbed his hand for support.

"And how long has your relationship been going on? Were you two together while she was still your student?"

"I'm not going to deny it, so yes." He looked at me while he said this but I couldn't read his expression.

"Guardian Belikov, how could you have allowed this?" The anger was clear in her voice now. I could already picture her face red with rage. "You are a full grown man that is well aware of his actions. You should have known better than to get involved in a relationship with a student. Do you know what would happen to you if higher authorities found out about this?"

He took in a deep breath before answering. "I know there is no justification for what I did, and I will not try to give excuses as to why I allowed it. I know it wasn't the right thing to do, but if I could go back in time, I would still do it."

"How can you have the audacity to tell me this? I am very close to reporting you to our superiors no matter what you say."

"Go ahead and tell them Guardian Hathaway. There is nothing else they can do to me. I will not serve as a guardian anymore and I have been practically exiled from our world. They don't even care about me anymore." Even though I could tell many emotions were coursing through him, he managed to keep his voice calm and leveled.

For once my mom was quiet. I took the opportunity to take lead of the conversation. I was not going to let her blame everything on Dimitri. "Mom."

"Rosemary Hathaway, what have you gotten yourself into?"

"Look, I don't care what you say, I'm as much responsible as Dimitri is. He didn't force me into this situation. If anything, I was the one who was more persistent."

"Rose you don't know what you are saying—"

"I know perfectly well what I'm saying," I interrupted her. "You treat me like a five year old when I'm already an adult."

"I just don't want you to do any mistakes that you might regret in your future."

"And what mistakes are you referring to? Killing the queen like everyone thinks I did? Or deciding to start a life and family with the man that I love?"

She let out a humorless laugh. "You're eighteen Rose, you have no idea what love is."

"Oh and you do? The woman who left the man she supposedly loved and abandoned her only child to be raised by the academy?" I knew I was going too far, but I couldn't stop. The angry remarks kept coming out of my mouth like word vomit. "And why are you calling me anyways? If it was just to tell me how much I'm screwing up my life, feel free to hang up."

I heard her take in a deep breath and let it out. "No Rose, despite what you may think, I was calling to see how you were doing."

"Well I'm doing fine. Thanks for calling."

I was about to hang up when I heard her speak. "Wait, Rose."

"What?" I asked annoyed.

"How…how's your pregnancy going?" She sounded reluctant to ask.

"It's going fine. I have an appointment in a little bit." There was no point asking her how she had found out, Abe had probably opened his big mouth.

"That's good…Look Rose, I know I haven't been the most present mother, but I do care about you. And I just want you to be happy, so don't take what I tell you the wrong way. I'm just looking out for you."

My heart softened at her words. Despite everything I told her, I knew that she did love me. "I know mom. I'm sorry I told you all those things. These stupid hormones make me act all emotional with mood swings."

A small chuckle escaped her lips. "I know all about the hormones. When I was pregnant with you, I got so mad one time that I broke a man's nose for calling me a crazy teenager."

I let out a small laugh. "Well, now I know where I get all my anger and bad ass skills from."

Her humor died down and she became serious again. "Rose, just promise me that you'll try to make wise choices."

"Yeah, I'll try." What else was I supposed to tell her? No, I won't try mom? As if.

"Okay, if you need anything call me to the number I'm using right now. And tell Belikov that if he hurts you, I will break him in the place that will hurt him the most."

"Yeah, both you and dad will. Gees, will you two stop threatening him?"

"Maybe," she said before hanging up.

I closed the phone and put it on the bed. "Did you hear that Comrade? You better watch out for my parents," I said playfully.

"I guess I shouldn't hurt you then," he said.

"Oh? And how could you hurt me?"

"Hmm, well maybe like this," he said pulling me to him and giving me an urgent, passionate kiss. He pulled me closer and I wrapped my hands around his neck. He gently lowered me onto the bed and my hands started roaming his broad chest and back. I could already feel myself going faint from lack of air, but I didn't want to pull away. I managed to take his shirt off fairly easy. He started to pull my tank top off when the door burst open.

"Hey Dim— oh eww."

I rapidly pulled my top down. We both looked up like two kids caught doing something they shouldn't have been doing. Viktoria stood in the doorway looking disgusted and uncomfortable.

"You guys should really lock the door if you're going to be doing that," she said pointing a finger at us.

I was so embarrassed I didn't know what to say. Good lord, what if it had been his mother that walked in on us? An awkward silence fell between all of us. "Uh, sorry?" I said.

"Yeah, next time just lock the door okay? Anyways, mom wants you in the kitchen Dimitri." She quickly left after delivering her message. As soon as she left, Dimitri and I erupted in laughter.

"Oh my god, what if it had been your mom or your grandma?" I said mortified.

"Then it would have been even more uncomfortable," he said between waves of laughter.

I lightly smacked him on his shoulder. "Don't laugh. And next time don't forget to lock the door."

"I won't," he said before giving me a quick peck on the lips. He put his shirt on as he was getting up. "I'm going to go see what my mother wants." He picked up the now empty tray of food and left the room.

I stood up to leave the room, but my reflection on the mirror caught my attention. I was two months along now, and my baby bump was clearly visible. After all, I did have two babies growing in there. I lifted up my shirt and looked at myself sideways. Pretty soon I was going to need to start using maternity clothes. Ugh. I could already feel my jeans a little tight around the waist.

Recently my boobs had started to feel sore, and if I wasn't mistaken, they were getting bigger. That was probably the only good thing I had noticed so far. I reached up and cupped my breast. Yup, they were definitely bigger. I had been reading online and most websites that I checked said that I should breast feed the babies. I still wasn't sure about my position on that. I sighed and left the room.

I walked into the living room to find Viktoria avidly watching TV. "What you watching?" I asked.

She didn't even look up. "MTV, the Russian one."

"Oh." I looked at the TV and saw a rock band playing music. Huh, I guess in this MTV they actually played music instead of overly dramatic reality shows. I mean, it _is_ called music television, not reality television. "What's that band called?"

This time she did look up. "Slot. It's my favorite band." Her eyes were shining as she said that.

I sat down and watched them play. They were actually pretty good. Despite the fact that I didn't know what they were saying, I liked the song. "When do you go back to school?"

"Uh… tomorrow," she said distractedly.

"Are you excited about going back?"

"Sure."

It looked like I wasn't going to get much of a conversation out of her; she was too absorbed into the TV. So I decided to go back to the room and change. After trying on different ensembles that I didn't like, I settled for a pair of loose jeans and a t-shirt that said "I'm a Vampire, Don't make me bite you". Ha, I loved the irony of the shirt.

Just as I was finishing putting on my shoes Dimitri walked in. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yup. Let's go Comrade."

The clinic was small but clean and neat. We only waited a few minutes before being called into the back, probably due to the fact that there was only one other woman waiting apart from me. The doctor told me to change into a gown and then she would be back. Ugh, she was going to stick that thing inside me again. It gave me shivers just thinking about it.

"You should be happy they don't have to stick anything inside you," I told Dimitri as we were waiting for the doctor to come back in.

He gave me a sympathetic grin. "Believe me, I am very grateful."

I looked around the room and noticed the pictures of colorful fishes underwater. They were calming and peaceful; probably there to calm you down before they stuck that thing inside you. Next to me there was a small table with a vase of purple flowers and book of baby names.

I picked it up and flipped through the pages. "What are we going to call them?"

"Hmm?" He looked up at me like if I had pulled him out of his thoughts.

"The babies, what are we going to name them?"

"I hadn't really thought about it since we don't know their gender. What would you like to call them?"

"I don't know, I want to name them something Russian or exotic. A name that isn't common but not too weird. Like that actress that called her kid apple. Come on, that poor kid is going to be teased for the rest of his life."

"Well you have a book of names right there. Look and see which names you like."

I looked through the pages looking at names and their meanings. "How do you like Altair, Kermal, Matvey, Mirko or Maxim for boys? Or we can call one of them Dimitri like their daddy."

He smiled at the thought of one of them being called like him. "If you like it. And what about if they are girls?"

I kept looking at the book and found a couple of girl names that I actually liked. "What about Alima, Elma, Svetlana, Kseniya or Nika for girls?"

He nodded. "They all sound nice."

"Dimitri, you have to give me an opinion. Otherwise we're going to end up calling them like ten different names because I couldn't decide on one."

He let out a laugh. "We still have time to choose the baby names, Roza."

"Fine," I said giving up. "I guess I can wait until we know for sure what they are."

The doctor came in after that. "Hi, how are you doing Mr. and Mrs. Belikov?"

It took me a second to realize that she was referring to Dimitri and me. I guess I had to get used to my new last name sometime. "We're doing fine," I said.

She smiled at us. "Good. I am Dr. Mailtov and I am going to be your doctor from now on." She had a faint Russian accent like the one that Dimitri had. It was there, but it was barely noticeable. She was a little taller than me, with shoulder length blond hair and green-blue eyes. Looking at her, she looked to be in her early thirties and very pretty.

She stuck the probe inside me and moved it around to get a better view. "Everything seems to be okay," she said. "Their heartbeats are fine and they are the right size. Do you have any questions or concerns?"

I looked at Dimitri to see if he had any but he just shook his head. "Nope."

She smiled. "Okay then you can schedule an appointment for next month with the receptionist."

"Thank you," said Dimitri.

"See you two next week," she said before leaving the room.

Dimitri's phone started ringing then. "I'm going to take this call. I'll wait for you outside," he said before leaving the room.

I picked up my pile of clothes that Dimitri had neatly folded. Sometimes I seriously felt like I was the guy, being messy and lazy while Dimitri did all the cooking and cleaning. Chuckling I put on my clothes and then left the room.

When I got to the waiting room I saw Dimitri through the window. He was holding the phone to his ear and he was smiling like if he had good news. I wondered who he was talking to.

I quickly made my appointment for next month and went outside. "Who was that?" I asked.

He gave me a radiant smile. "I have a surprise for you."

"A surprise? What is it?" I wondered what it could be. A pair of clothes? A puppy? Yet I don't think those things would make him feel this excited about giving them to me.

"Just wait and see."

"Oh come on Comrade, tell me," I whined.

He shook his head and started walking over to the car. "If I told you, then it wouldn't be a surprise."

"I don't care. Now tell me what it is."

"My lips are sealed," he said with a humored expression.

"You are so mean. Torturing a poor pregnant woman like this," I said.

He opened the door for me and then got into the driver's seat. "Oh yes, I am a cruel, cruel man."

When we got back to the house I found that I was starting to get hungry. So I wandered into the kitchen while Dimitri went to go run some errands that he refused to elaborate on. I found Olena making preparations for lunch when I walked in.

"Are you hungry Rose?" she said as soon as she saw me walk in.

"No I'll just get a snack and wait for lunch."

She took out the bread and butter and set it on the table, Dimitri's favorite snack she had told me once. "So how are things going with the pregnancy?"

I swallowed my mouthful before answering. "Good, everything is just right," I said nodding my head.

She gave me a sweet smile. "That's good."

Olena was like the mom that I had always wanted to have. A sweet woman who would listen to my worries and give me reassuring smiles that made me feel better. In the short time that I had come to know her, a sort of mother-daughter bond had formed between us. I felt like I could confide on her all my worries.

"Olena, when…when you had your first child, were you scared?"

She studied me before answering. "Rose, it's natural to feel scared. I was scared out of my mind when I found out I was having Karolina, especially since I knew that I was going to be a single mother." She reached over and grabbed my hand. "But you have Dimitri with you and you can be sure that he'll be there every step of the way. Not only that, but you have the support of all of us in this house. We'll be by your side to help you and Dimitri through this."

Seeing how much she cared about me made me want to cry. This is what I wanted the most from my mom, kindness and a show of affection. "Thank you," I said holding back tears.

She pulled me into an embrace and I rested my head on her shoulder, silently letting my emotions out by crying. "Everything is going to be okay," she said as she gently stroked my hair.

We stayed like that until someone came into the room. "What's wrong?" asked Dimitri.

I pulled away and wiped the tears with the back of my hand. "Nothing, everything is fine," I said.

He came over and placed a hand on my cheek. "You sure?" he said with a worried expression.

I nodded. "Just some girl bonding," I said with a small smile.

He kissed the top of my head. "You're surprise is here now," he said with a smile. He covered my eyes with his hands and started leading me out of the kitchen.

"What is it?" Curiosity was getting the best of me.

"Rose why would I tell you? You're going to see what it is right now."

We stopped walking and Dimitri removed his hands. I opened my eyes to see Lissa standing in front of me with a big smile on her face. "Lissa?" I ran to her and took her into a bear hug. "Oh my god, what are you doing here?" I couldn't believe that she was standing in front of me.

"Abe brought me and Christian over and told everyone that I'm on vacation." I hadn't noticed Christian until Lissa had mentioned him.

I went over and smacked him on the back of his head. "Ow, what was that for?" he asked.

"That's for leaving Lissa to go play brave superhero and making her worry so much."

"Hey, you would have done the same thing."

"Yeah but I've got training for that idiot, you don't."

"Oh whatever, you know I kick ass anyways."

I squinted my eyes at him as I shook my head. I decided to drop the subject and turned back to Lissa. "How long are you guys staying here? And where's Abe?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, he said he had some business to take care of before he stopped by. And I guess I'll go back until I decide to go back."

"But don't you start college soon?" It had been Lissa's dream to attend Lehigh.

"Yeah but I decided to start school later on. I don't think I'm mentally ready to go to school when I have so many problems clouding my mind. I wouldn't be able to concentrate on school work."

I nodded in understanding. "At least we can spend more time together. You guys are staying with us here right?"

"No, they're going to be staying in Abe's cabin and so are we," said Dimitri.

"We're going to be roommates again," I said excited.

"We should get going so they can get settled in," said Dimitri from behind me.

"Right, well I should go pack up our stuff."

"I already did it," he said.

I turned to Lissa. "See, I don't have to do anything anymore."

She smiled and shook her head. "Oh Rose, I missed you."

I put an arm around her waist. "I missed you too Liss."

After saying goodbye to Dimitri's family we took off to the cabin. I claimed the room in the third floor that I had slept in last time, only this time Dimitri put his stuff in there too. I put my clothes in the closet and then wandered over to the room that Lissa and Christian would be sharing.

I ran into Christian as he was leaving the room. "Hey you two, who said you could share a room? I don't want to be hearing any funny business in the night. I need my beauty sleep."

"Right well same goes for you Guardian Hathaway. I don't want to hear anything from upstairs," said Christian.

"Christian! Don't be saying those things about Rose and Guardian Belikov," said Lissa.

I gave him a smug smile. "You heard her. Obey her rules or you don't get any."

"Whatever," he muttered before leaving down the hall.

Lissa was sitting down on her bed folding clothes into separate piles, always the organized one. "How do you like the house?" I asked her.

"It's very nice. I didn't expect to see a house like this out here."

"Yeah I know what you mean. When I heard 'cabin' I expected to see a small dingy place."

She smiled but kept folding her clothes. The way she was doing it, I could tell she was thinking about something very intently. "Rose, what do you know about my half brother?"

I shrugged. "Not much. Dimitri and I were searching for him until… uh, Abe took over. I think he said he was close to finding him."

"What do you think he'll be like? I can't imagine having another brother other than Andre, it feels…weird."

"I don't know what to tell you Liss, I don't even have any siblings of my own. But if he's from your family, I'm sure he'll have the same good heart as all of you," I said reassuringly.

"I hope so," she said as she continued to fold her clothes.

I walked over to the window and looked outside. Dimitri was there teaching Christian some moves on how to protect himself. I had to hand it to him, fire boy was getting better.

I was lost in my thoughts until Lissa started talking again. "Rose, you look… different."

"Huh?" I looked at her then back at myself. The shirt that I was wearing hugged my body and showed the bump on my abdomen. I wouldn't be able to fit into it soon. "What do you mean?"

Her forehead wrinkled with thought. "I don't know, you seem more… how can I put it? Mature, I guess."

"What? How can I look more mature?"

Her eyes looked me over, scrutinizing every detail. "I don't know there's like this air to you and your aura looks different too."

Well, I had to tell her sometime. Now was as good a time as ever. "I'm pregnant."

She looked at me with a shocked expression. "You're pregnant? Does Adrian know? Does Dimitri know?"

Here we go again. I was going to have to go through the process of explaining that Dimitri was the dad, not Adrian. So I explained to her everything, including that I was engaged. All the while Lissa's expression got more and more incredulous.

"I can't believe that you're pregnant _and_ engaged. It feels so surreal. I always thought…you know that I would be the first to go through all of that."

"I thought that too. I guess we were wrong."

"Oh my god, I'm going to be an aunt of twins!"

"Don't get so excited. If they are anything like I was when I was small, they are going to be handful for everyone." We both started laughing, remembering how much of trouble maker I had been growing up.

We stayed in her room talking and catching up on all that had happened since we had last seen each other. Having her here near me truly made me feel better, like if a huge load had been taken off my shoulders. I would have to thank Abe the next time I talked to him. I was starting to think that he cared about me more than he showed.

**So everyone is safe now. How nice ^_^**

**Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and don't forget to review!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello everyone! Took me long enough to post up this chapter huh? You guys probably already forgot what was going on in the storyline lol Sorry for taking so long. I'll try to pick up the pace more.**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

**Daisy R.**

**Oh and Richelle Mead owns all :)**

**Chapter 16**

_**Abe**_

We had arrived in Omsk without any problems. I had to admit that I had been a little skeptical after last time when they had tried to make the jet crash with Rose and Dimitri inside. Good thing I had a large set of personal jets at my disposal. I didn't need to be a royal to have power.

The ride over had been quiet, I wasn't really much of a conversation starter. Even the young couple didn't talk much. I think I scared them, a reaction that I earn from most people when I first meet them. Well most people except Rose. She stood her ground and refused to be intimidated by me. Yup, she was my girl.

"Did you enjoy the ride over?" I asked Vasilissa as we were making our way to the parking lot. The Ozera boy walked behind us, saying nothing but observing everything like a hawk.

She smiled at me. "Yes, it was very pleasant. And thank you again for doing this."

"No problem."

We had arrived at our cars and I opened the door for her. "I'll see you two later."

"You're not coming with us?" she asked with a curious look.

"No I have some business to take care of." I gave her the same explanation I gave to everyone.

"Oh, okay." She didn't press for any more information. Smart girl.

"Tell Rose I'll stop by when I'm done."

"Yeah I'll tell her."

"Have a safe ride," I said before closing her door. I watched the SUV drive away before getting into the other car.

Milo was already in there. "We headed to the cabin right?" he asked.

"Nope."

"Then where are we going?"

"To pay a visit to Mr. Nikolai."

We arrived at a decent looking two story house that was painted an almond-beige color. There was a porch in the front with two rocking chairs and a small table between them. There were a couple of bikes leaning against the side of the house and a gray Nissan in the driveway. I wasted no more time observing the house and knocked on the door.

After about a minute or so, a middle aged woman opened the door. She was around five seven with light brown hair and brown eyes. A quick observation revealed that she was a dhampir. "How may I help you?" she asked in Russian.

"Are you Miros Malenkov?" I responded in English. Of course I knew how to speak Russian, but maybe speaking in English would have a bigger impact.

Her eyes widened. "Who wants to know?"

"Miros, who is it?" I heard a man call from behind her before appearing next to her on the doorway. He was as tall as me and a dhampir like his wife. When he caught sight of me, his eyes too widened with surprise. "Abe Mazur, is there something we can help you with?"

"You know him?" she asked turning to the man.

"No, but—"

"Look, I just want to ask you some questions," I interrupted.

They looked at each other for a long minute. Their gazes were so intense that it seemed like they were having a conversation with just their eyes. The man finally looked back at me and stepped aside. Extending his arm inside he said, "This way Mr. Mazur."

I made my way inside and ended up in a nicely decorated living room with black couches and a tall bookshelf up against one of the walls. "Nice place you got," I said turning around to face the couple.

"Thank you," said the man. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Aleksander Malenkov and this is my wife, Miroslava Malenkov."

I gave them a nod and sat down on the nearest couch. "So tell me, how long have you two lived here?"

"Sixteen years," responded Aleksander.

"I take it you two aren't active guardians," I stated.

"No, we own a small store in town."

I looked around the room. "It seems to be going well for you."

Aleksander smiled slightly. "Yes."

"Have any kids?" I was curious to see what they would say.

Aleksander's smile fell. "No."

Here we go. "Come on, we were doing so well. Don't start lying to me now." They looked at each other but didn't respond. "I'm waiting," I said.

Aleksander looked up. "'We…we do have a son."

Miros looked at him startled. "Alek!"

He looked back at her, exasperated. "Miros we can't hide information from him, he'll find out eventually."

"You have a son. Where did you get him from? Because I'm pretty sure you two didn't have him."

They were both quiet. "No, he's not ours. My sister had him," responded Miros.

"Your sister Lydia."

Her eyes slightly widened. "Yes. Do you know her? I haven't talked to her since we moved here."

Looked like I was going to have to tell her that her sister was dead. Lucky me. "No, unfortunately your sister is no longer with us."

Her mouth fell open. "She's…she's dead?" I gave her a nod. There wasn't more that I could tell her. "Oh my god." She looked up at the ceiling and tears started rolling down her cheeks.

"Look, I'm sorry for your loss but I need you to answer these questions for me. The fate of our world depends on it." God, that sounds so cliché. "And I'm not just saying that to be dramatic," I added.

She wiped her eyes and nodded. "What do you want to know?"

"Do you know who Nikolai's father is?"

She shook her head. "Lydia never told us who the father was. She said he was too important and that if it was discovered that he had a son with another woman, chaos would break out."

"Yeah, I wonder why," I muttered to myself.

She sniffled. "Excuse me?"

"Nothing. Where is Nikolai?"

"He's out in town getting some groceries but he should be back soon. He's leaving to St. Basil's tomorrow and still has to pack."

I nodded. "Does he ever question how you two had him?"

"Since he was small he's known that we weren't his real parents. We told him that his mother had been a single mother and that she had stayed in the U.S."

"And why did you move over here to Russia?"

"We had no other choice. It was either move here or stay back home living in fear."

"Fear of what?"

She let out a sigh. "One day when Nikolai had barely turned one, a man came to visit us at our house. He told us that we should move as far away as possible and never speak of Nikolai's father. So we did as we were told and moved here to Baia."

"And who was this man?"

"I don't know, but he was a messenger. That much was clear."

All the pieces were coming together. The more this woman told me, the more I became convinced that this was Vailisa's half brother. Now all I had to do was run some DNA tests and find out for sure. "Miros, I'm going to have to run some tests."

"What kind of tests? And for what?" asked Aleksander who had been silent up until right now.

"I think I know who your son's father is."

"We'll be there in twenty minutes Mr. Mazur," said the driver. We were in the SUV on our way to the cabin.

After telling Miros and her husband that I knew who their son's father was, we had waited for Nikolai to arrive. He was around five ten with dirty blond hair and eyes the same green that ran in the Dragomir family. Studying him, I noticed similarities here and there to Vasilisa and her father. He had questioned my being there but we had of course told him a lie.

After getting a few strands of his hair I left and sent Milo to take the sample to the nearest lab. There, we would run some DNA tests with Nikolai and Vasilisa's hair.

Knowing that we had reached the end of our search made me feel satisfied. Now all we had to do was find out who the queen's killer was. _I'm good,_ I thought_. Maybe I should take up being a private investigator as a side job._

I was considering the possibilities when my phone rang. "Abe Mazur," I answered.

"Abe, its Janine."

"How's it going Jane?"

"I called Rose." Always straight to the point.

"Ha and how did that go for you?" I could already hear the argument they probably got into. After all, like characters clash against each other.

"Well she was telling me how terrible of a mother I've been and I was telling her how irresponsible she's been."

"So it was like all your other conversations."

"I guess. You know, sometimes it really gets to me when she tells me how bad of a mother I've been. She doesn't even realize how much I sacrificed so she would have a good life."

"I understand how you feel Jane. I had to give her up too."

"I know but she doesn't resent you like she does me."

"Well that's because I'm irresistible."

"I'm being serious Abe. It really hurts me."

My humor dried up. "I'm sorry Jane. I'll try to talk to her. But I think she resents you more because she actually wanted a mother in her life. She wanted _you _to be there for her. I was never even a possibility for her."

"Well there's nothing I could have done about that! I'm a guardian and I have to be with my Moroi." She sounded desperate and angry.

"She knows that, but it still hurts her that she never really saw you much."

"I just couldn't stand seeing her and then having to leave her so quickly. To make us wish that we could actually spend more time together. I was saving both of us from more pain."

"Maybe you should try telling her that."

She was quiet for a while, her mind probably reeling with thoughts. "After the attack on her school, things started getting better. I felt like she was accepting me into her life and that our relationship was growing."

"But…"

"But I still feel like she doesn't really trust me enough to confide in me."

"You have to give her time Jane."

"You're right Abe. I think both her and I need time to get used to this whole mother-daughter thing." She let out a breath. "I have to go Abe, talk to you later. And if you see Rose, tell her I said hi."

I noticed that somewhere in the conversation I had become the voice of reason. How had that happened? "Will do _babushka_," I said, using the Russian word for grandmother.

"Abe stop calling me that, it makes me feel old."

I chuckled. "Goodbye Jane."

I closed the phone and looked up to see that we were approaching the cabin. The only indication that the house was inhabited was the parked car in the front that Belikov and Rose used. I exited the car and made my way to the front door with my guardians towing behind me. I knocked and waited for someone to open. I could have just entered, I did have the key after all, but I decided to knock out of respect. Not something I usually did.

No one was answering and I was about to just let myself in when Rose opened the door. "Hey old man," she said with a grin.

"Hey I'm not _that_ old," I said. "And if you haven't noticed, I've still got it going on," I added.

"Right, well please do me and the fetuses a favor and keep your romantic escapades to yourself," she said while covering her stomach with her hands as if to block out what I was saying.

"Fetuses? As in you're having twins?"

"Yeah, I thought I told you…" she trailed off.

"So I'm going to be a double grandpa?"

She smiled. "Yup. See I told you you were old."

I noticed that our whole conversation we had stayed in the doorway. "So are you going to keep me out here like a decoration or are you going to let me in?" I joked.

"You don't need me to invite you in, it's your house," she said as she stepped aside.

I stepped inside almost expecting to see the house a complete mess but everything was in order. Then again, they had barely moved in a few hours ago. Maybe if I came by in a couple of days the house would be in chaos.

Apart from being clean, the house was also empty. "Where's everyone?" I asked.

"Dimitri and fire crotch are in the back and Lissa is in her room putting away her stuff."

Our voices echoed off the walls and came back to us, making the house seem really spacious. I looked around at all the decorations that it had. I had contracted an interior designer to buy and decorate the house and rooms with all the furnishings that they had. She had done a nice job.

"So how long are you planning on staying?" she asked.

"I don't know, how long am I welcome?"

"Well I was just on my way outside to tell Dimitri to start cooking lunch."

I chuckled. "Shouldn't you learn how to cook _Kiz_? Belikov is going to starve if you don't."

"No he won't starve. I'll have you know that he is an amazing cook. And plus I can learn to cook if I want. I just decide not to."

"I can imagine just how amazing a cook he is. Probably takes after his mom," I said.

"Probably. Why don't you stay for lunch?"

"Okay I'll stay. I also have some news in regards to Lissa's brother."

Her eyes widened. "What? Really?"

"Yes but I'll save it for after lunch."

"No, tell me now."

"Have patience _Kiz_." She was just as impatient as her mother.

She squinted at me and shook her head. "You men just love to torture me." She started making her way outside and I followed with my men behind me.

Just like the house, the backyard was beautiful. It wasn't giant, but it was big with tall hedges, different kinds of flowers, and bushes cut into wondrous shapes. There was an aging man in town named Gene that I paid to come twice a month and take care of the landscaping. He was a short pleasant man with brown eyes and a small patch of graying hair at the top of his balding scalp. A problem I was glad I did not have.

In a patch of grass were Belikov and Ozera doing what seemed to me like practicing combat. "How's practice going?" asked Rose.

"Just…peachy," responded Ozera who was out of breath.

"Don't sweat it fire boy. When I started with him I was just as bad as you, well maybe not as bad. But now the student has surpassed the teacher," she said with a smile.

"Right I'll believe it when I see it," he said.

"You already did or do you not remember that time I beat him when I was guarding you on campus?" she retorted.

Ozera crossed his arms across his chest. "That doesn't count, he was probably going easy on you so you wouldn't make him look bad if you didn't win."

"That is so not true, I beat him." She turned to Belikov. "Didn't I?" she asked him.

He nodded his head. "Yes you did."

Watching this ping pong fight of insults between Rose and Ozera reminded me once again of what I had missed out from Rose's life. Knowing Rose's character, she probably got into a lot of arguments. But knowing that I could have been there made me feel an emotion I couldn't quite pin point. _Oh God, _I thought, _I'm going soft._

I shook off the feeling and focused again my attention on their playful argument that had vanished and been replaced with talk of lunch. "Well lunch isn't going to cook itself," said Rose.

"Really? Well why don't you go make it?" said Ozera.

"Shut up, I wasn't talking to you." She turned to Belikov who had an amused look on his face. "What?" she said. "You want me to go cook?"

Belikov shrugged. "I wasn't saying that, it's only a suggestion."

"You didn't say it but you were thinking it, and unless you guys want to eat burnt toast and jelly I suggest you go in there and cook," she said before storming inside. Hmm, must be the hormones.

"A little touchy isn't she?" said Ozera.

Belikov and I looked at each other but didn't say anything. "Why don't we go inside and get started on that lunch before Rose comes out and chews our heads off?" I said.

"Good idea," said Belikov as he made his way inside.

We headed inside and I watched as they boys prepared lunch. Ozera, as I had learned, actually had a nag for cooking and had taken a cooking class at St. Vladimir's. From what I could see and smell, lunch was going to be good. They were preparing chicken and egg salad sandwiches with a side of salad.

The smell of food must have reached them because soon after Rose and Vasilissa appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. "Smells good," said Rose, her earlier anger forgotten. These mood swings were weird.

"Smells? It _is_ good," said Ozera.

"Well I'll be the judge of that," she responded.

We all sat down at the table and started eating. I wasn't hungry too much since I had had a feeding earlier today but the time was quickly approaching for my next feeding.

When I had been making all the plans for Vasilissa and Ozera to stay over here, I had come across the conflict of feedings. Being isolated from our society meant that they wouldn't have easy access to feeders. So I arranged for feeders to come to the house every day. The first two would be coming in a few hours.

I was about to tell Rose something when I noticed that she had stopped eating and she was spitting her mouthful on a napkin. "What is it _Kiz_?" I asked.

She moved her chair back and left the room practically running. Belikov quickly followed her footsteps, a look on his face that said he was used to this.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Ozera. "If she didn't like my food all she had to do was say so."

"Christian!" said Vasilissa.

"What? It's true, she doesn't have to make a big deal about it."

"It's not that," she said.

"Well what is it then?"

"Umm well…" she trailed off, not knowing if she should tell Ozera.

"Rose is pregnant," I said bluntly as I took a bite of the sandwich. After all, he was going to start to notice if they stayed here long enough.

He looked at me like I had three heads. "Pregnant? You're kidding right?" he said as he started laughing. When he saw that neither I nor Vasilissa joined in, his laughter died. "You're not kidding. Wow that's uh, kind of… weird to think of. Can't really picture badass Hathaway as a mom."

"I don't think any of us could," I said.

"So does Adrian know?" he asked.

"Um its complicated, I'll explain later," said Lissa.

Belikov and Rose came back then and took their seats. No one said anything but Ozera kept looking at Rose and she noticed. "What?"

He looked away and started fumbling with his food.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm not looking at you in any way."

She set down the cup of water that she had in her hand. "What is it fire boy?"

"It's nothing."

They looked at each other without saying anything. "You know don't you?" Rose finally said. He just stayed quiet. "I know that you know. Come on let it out," she said giving up.

Slowly, his face started breaking into a smile. "Who's gonna be a momma bear?"

"Ha ha you better…"

I was listening to them until my phone started ringing. I left the kitchen and went to the living room. When I saw that it was Milo I quickly picked up. "Did you get the results already?"

"Yes."

"That was fast." I was expecting to wait another hour or so.

"Well let's just say that if we were in the states, we would have broken many laws," he said, making us both laugh.

"So, what were the results?"

"We found him Abe, it came back positive," he said in an elated tone.

"I knew it was him, I could feel it," I said with a grin.

"You always tend to be right Abe."

"True. How are we doing on the search for the murderer?"

"Actually, we've gone through the whole list of suspects…" He sounded reluctant to say it.

"And?"

"And none of them were the killer." Damn it, we had been so close. Knowing that we were close had been the only reason that I hadn't sent ten men over with Belikov and Rose. Now it seemed like I was going to have to do that after all.

"What? How can none of them be the killer?"

"We thought we were close, but it turns out we weren't."

"What about Victor? Do you have anything on him?" Even if we didn't catch the killer, catching him would calm me down a bit.

"No. We've been following him but he's always two steps ahead of us." Prissy ass royal, probably got a bunch of stupid Moroi and Dhampirs following his every order.

"Well get more men on it. We are going to catch this fucker no matter what it takes."

"Yes Abe."

I closed the phone and took a second to compose myself before going back to the kitchen. The earlier conversation had blended down to casual talk about what they were going to do later on. I cleared my throat and everyone looked at me. "I have just been informed that we found Vasilissa's brother."

"Seriously? Who is he and where does he live?"

"His name is Nikolai and he lives in here in town." As I said this, I kept my attention on Vasilissa who did not say anything and seemed to be in shock.

"Nikolai… as in Victoria's friend?" asked Rose.

"Yes, I think I saw them together a few times," I said, recalling the times I had seen them in town together.

She turned to Vasilissa. "You know what this means? You can tell the court and vote now Lissa." Vasilissa just remained quiet and seemed to be in another planet all together. "Liss?" prompted Rose.

She looked up. "No."

"No what?" asked Rose with clear confusion.

"I'm not going to tell them," she said shaking her head. "At least not right now."

"Why not? Liss you can—"

"No, I want to stay here with you," she interrupted.

"I know Liss but—"

"You want me to stay right?" she asked.

"Of course—"

"Then I'm not leaving. For once I want to do what I want to do."

"But Liss, you could change the new ruling on the age of graduation for Dhampirs."

"I know but I want to stay here. At least until you give birth." She reached over and grabbed Rose's hand. "I want to go through this with you."

Rose looked like she was about to cry. Oh god, not the water works. I could deal with puking but not crying. "Thank you," she told Lissa with a smile.

After lunch I headed over to the living room with Rose and Vasilissa while Belikov and Ozera cleaned up. You cook it, you got to clean it up, had been Rose's argument. But I think they had given in just to avoid another of Rose's furious tempers.

We settled down and started watching a movie that I had no clue what it was about. I paid more attention to the time I was spending with my daughter than to what was going on in the storyline.

**First off, I want to say sorry for any mistakes that I might have missed. I decided not to send this chapter to my beta seeing as how it would have delayed me posting the chapter even more.**

**Second, I am almost 100% sure that Victoria's friend Nikolai will not be Lissa's sibling lol. I actually had no clue who to make the sibling when I started the story and then I thought of someone but it was too late because I had already said Lissa's sibling was a guy. Oh well.**

**Who do you think is Lissa's sibling?**


	17. AN

Hey guys sorry for keeping you waiting so long! I just had mid terms and the work caught up with me lol no worries though, I'm almost done with ch.17 which I will post up soon.

Hang in there,

Daisy R.


	18. Chapter 17

**Hello everyone! I have finished the chapter at long last! lol Sorry again for taking so long. Hope you guys have been well and enjoying life. Stay safe everyone during Halloween! Oh and as always, Richelle Mead owns all. **

**Enjoy!**

**Daisy R.**

**Chapter 17**

_**Rose**_

**7 1/2 months later…**

I was walking along a deserted path when I came across a wolf. It was beautiful with a medium length fur coat the color of snow and a few specks of gray here and there. Its eyes were a piercing shade of blue that managed to stop me in my tracks. It stared at me and I stared back, neither of us moving a muscle. Even though it should have, the dog did not evoke fear in me. It didn't bark it simply stared.

"Do you not fear me Rose?"

After a moment I realized that it was the dog that was talking to me. I don't know what startled me more, the fact that it actually spoke or the fact that it was _my_ voice coming out of its mouth.

I didn't know what to say, so I said the first thing that came to mind. "You can talk?" Stupid, yes, but I couldn't think of what else to say.

"Does it matter if I talk, Rose?"

"Yeah, you're a wolf. Wolves aren't supposed to talk," I said, trying to convince myself of what I knew to be true.

"What we are taught in our lives is not always true. You more than anyone should know this."

"So you're saying that wolves _do _talk."

If possible, the wolf looked irritated. "Put aside that thought Rose. I am not referring to wolves but to _everything _we are taught. All those ideals and thoughts that are engraved in us at a young age." He stared at with those piercing blue eyes, never moving.

After getting past the weirdness of hearing my voice come out of the wolf, I started thinking about what it had said. Since I was small, I had been taught that Moroi were more important. _They come first_. This had been my motto for my whole life, my motto that I had followed and believed in. Now? Now I was starting to doubt this maxim of mine.

I looked down at my huge belly and rested a hand on it. Not even in my dreams could I escape my bloated abdomen that gave me all those back pains.

Before graduating from 's I had been more concerned with becoming Lissa's guardian than anything else. Even after I went to hunt down Strigoi Dimitri, I still wanted to become Lissa's guardian. But after I found out about my pregnancy all my priorities had be rearranged. My most important concern now was making sure that the babies were born healthy and to be able to protect them. I hadn't told Lissa or Dimitri anything, but I wasn't sure if I still wanted to be a guardian anymore. I mean, I still wanted it. I loved being able to take down Strigoi and the rush that came with it. But in the other hand I also wanted to raise my kids.

I let out a sigh. Every time I thought about this I got more frustrated and confused. I had no clue what to do, and that applied to everything. Just thinking about what awaited me when the babies come out made me nervous. I felt unprepared and too young for this. I just never thought that this was going to happen. I never thought it _could_ happen.

"Do you see now what I am talking about?" Until then I had forgotten the wolf was there.

"Yes I see, but why do you want me to?" I couldn't understand why he wanted me to think about this.

"So you can me the best decision."

"The decision for what?"

"Just keep it in mind Rose," it (or I?) said as it started fading away.

"Wait don't leave—" I was left talking to myself. "Great," I muttered. Now I was confused and by myself.

Then right before my eyes the surroundings started changing. The path in front of me started morphing into a beach with clear blue water. When I turned around there was a forest of tall palm trees with coconuts at the top. My clothes started changing from my jeans and t-shirt to a lose, white summer dress. When my nazar appeared on my wrist as a bracelet I started recognizing this as one of Adrian's dreams.

I had thought about Adrian on occasions over the last months. How he hadn't come over here with Lissa and Christian when he somehow always managed to get himself involved in everything. How much I had undoubtedly hurt him. What his reaction would be to my pregnancy. The different thoughts attacked me one by one, all of them blending into this guilt that I carried around with me.

I sat down (with a lot of difficulty) on the sand and crossed my legs since I couldn't hug them to my chest. Next to me was a beautiful seashell with different colors on it and I twirled it through my fingers while I waited for Adrian to show up.

I was starting to think that he wasn't going to show up when I heard him from behind me. "Little Dhampir."

A smile spread through my lips. "Why don't you sit next to me?" I didn't even try to get up because I knew I wouldn't be able to. And I was trying to avoid his reaction to my pregnancy a little while longer.

He sat down next to me like I told him but he didn't look at me. I knew because I was watching him out of the corner of my eye. "I thought you had forgotten about me," I told him.

"How could I forget my Little Dhampir?" I could hear the smile in his words.

"Then why hadn't you visited me?" I asked, finally turning to face him.

He kept staring out at the ocean. "Because it hurt too much to see you."

Immediately I felt terrible. I had hurt him bad. And although that had never been my intention, from the beginning I had known that it was going to end this way.

"Adrian I—"

"You don't have to apologize," he interrupted. "When we started our relationship I knew that it wouldn't end well, but I still hoped." He continued looking out at the ocean. "It was stupid but I did."

We didn't say anything else; we just sat there watching the ocean. I was the first to break the silence. "Did you know Lissa and Christian were coming to stay with me?"

He smiled. "Do you forget that I find out about everything?"

"Then why—"

"Didn't I go with them?" He shrugged. "I just thought it would be best if I didn't."

Again a silence elapsed between us. I was starting to wonder if Adrian was purposefully avoiding looking at me. He had barely looked me in the face and he obviously hadn't seen my huge belly. "Do you see me?" I said abruptly.

His face immediately turned to look at me. "What?"

I pointed down at my belly. "I'm about ready to pop."

He looked down and his eyes widened so much I thought they were going to pop out of their sockets. "How had I not noticed this?"

"That is the same question I was asking myself."

"Guess I had other stuff on my mind to notice." He let out a deep breath. "Who's the dad?"

"You're not going to believe it," I said.

He finally pulled his gaze away from my belly and looked at my face. "What do you mean?"

"Dimitri's the father."

"That Russian? How can he be the father?"

I shrugged. "That is the same question we all ask ourselves."

He looked back down. "I just can't believe it. You're gone for less than a year and I find out you're pregnant." He shook his head. "This is crazy."

"I know what you mean. I'm still getting used to the idea that I'm going to be a mom."

Besides being surprised, I noticed that Adrian had not shown any other emotion. No anger or sadness. Had he moved on and found someone who loved him like I couldn't? "What had your mind busy?" I asked him.

"Oh, I've kind of…" he trailed off.

"What?" I asked. I observed him closely. His half smile, a sort of happiness that radiated from him. "Is it a girl?"

He smile fully then. "Is it that obvious?"

So I had been right. This bit of news made me smile. At least hopefully someone else could make him happy. "What's her name? Do I know her?"

"I don't think you know her," he said.

"Well how did you meet? I want to know all the details," I said growing excited.

"I met her the day of the attack on the court," he said. "It was during the day, well our night, and almost everyone was asleep or trying to sleep. I couldn't go to sleep at all so I decided to go to the bar and maybe see if they were open. As I made my way across the battle scene I ran into this girl who was helping clean up the mess."

"So she's an Alchemist," I said.

He nodded. "She looked at me like if I had killed her cat, with this anger in her eyes. I asked her what was wrong but she just kept glaring at me. I was about to leave but," he smiled, "there was just something about her that made me stay. I attempted a conversation but all I got out of her was a 'leave me alone". She actually kind of reminded me of you the first time I met you, except you talked more than her."

I tried to lift an eyebrow and failed miserably. "So I talk too much?"

"No that's not what I meant. Anyways, when the sun started bothering me I left."

"So you don't know her name?"

He smiled. "Don't you know by now how persistent I am? I waited for her inside until she was done. When she walked in I followed her and started talking to her. She stayed quiet until she finally broke. 'If I tell you my name will you leave me alone?' she told me. And I said 'maybe.' Then she let out this angry breath and said 'Sydney, my name is Sydney. Will you leave me alone now?' So I introduced myself too and then left her 'cause I was starting to think that if I didn't, she was going to hit me."

Sydney? Could it be…? "Where is she from?" I asked, thinking that it would be too much of a coincidence if it was the Sydney that I knew. After all, Sydney was in Orlando, not at the court.

"She's from Utah and she was stationed in Orlando but I guess they needed more Alchemists at the court."

Maybe it was just a coincidence. "So she told you that?"

"Yeah, after she called me, and I quote, 'an evil creature of the night who doesn't know how to mind his own business.'" Yup, that was Sydney. He snorted. "I'm not an evil creature of the night. Maybe a party creature of the night…" he rambled on with descriptions of what he was while I sat there and thought about how small the world was. Of all the people in the world, Adrian had fallen for a person who hated our kind.

"You always go for the hard to get type?" I asked Adrian.

He smiled. "They're a bigger prize when I do get them."

I smiled and shook my head. "How far has your 'relationship' gone?"

"Well she's speaking almost freely to me."

"What does that even mean?" I questioned him.

"Well after she left I decided to go back with her to where she was stationed."

"You followed her? That sounds stalkerish Adrian."

"I wasn't stalking her, I just…happened to be in places she went to."

I laughed. "Oh Adrian."

"She won't admit it, but I think she likes me," he said with a grin.

"And why do you think that?"

"It's those small things. For one, she doesn't call me evil creature of the night anymore, and when she goes out to eat she always has water waiting for me."

"Water… yeah sounds like she really likes you," I said sarcastically.

"Hey it's better than nothing."

"I guess but Adrian, what if she doesn't like you back? I don't want you to get hurt again," I said.

"Don't worry about me Little Dhampir, you have your own things to worry about," he said looking down at my stomach. He reached down and gently laid his hand on my bulge of a stomach. "Belikov is a lucky man."

"Thanks Adrian," I said. "Sydney would be stupid not to see what a great guy you are."

He grinned. "She'll come around. Just like you did."

"Let's hope so."

"I gotta go Little Dhampir, I've got a date," he said with a wink.

I chuckled. "Don't scare her off."

"I won't," he said with a smile.

"And don't abandon me either."

"I'll visit you more often, I promise," he said before reaching down to kiss the top of my head and dissolving from my dream.

When I woke from my dream I found Dimitri still in bed next to me which was a rarity since he always woke up before me. My head was on his chest while he had his arm around me. I propped myself up on one elbow and looked down at him. His features were peaceful which gave him a look of youth and innocence that I had never noticed before.

"Why are you staring at me?" he said with this eyes closed.

"How did you—"

"I can just feel it," he said.

"I just like seeing you sleep. I don't get to do it often and you look so peaceful," I said.

He finally opened his eyes and looked at me with an intense gaze. "What?" I said when I started feeling uncomfortable.

He shook his head. "Nothing." Always mysterious and elusive.

I looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was 11 am. "Why were you still sleeping?" I asked Dimitri. He always woke up super early.

He shrugged. "I thought it would be nice to sleep in today since Christian and Lissa headed out early in the morning."

"Where did they go?" Lissa had certainly not told me anything about that.

"They were heading to Omsk."

"Omsk? Why were they going to Omsk and how come no one told me or invited me?" How rude.

Dimitri smiled and kissed my chin. "Lissa didn't want to wake you and you're supposed to stay as inconspicuous as possible, remember?"

"Yeah I guess," I grumbled.

"Don't be mad," he said before pressing his soft, warm lips on mine. Just as things started getting hot and heavy my stomach decided to growl and protest with hunger. "Maybe we should feed you," Dimitri laughed.

"Good idea," I said.

Dimitri swiftly got up. But me? I had to roll to the side of the bed and then struggle to sit up. I looked up to see Dimitri holding back a grin. "You better not laugh. You did this to me," I accused him.

"And I'm sorry," he said. "Sort of."

I just glared at him as I got up and changed. I tried to put on my shoes with no success. "Why don't my shoes fit anymore? Am I pregnant in my feet, too?" I groaned.

"Here let me help you," said Dimitri as he kneeled down next to my feet. Within a matter of seconds he had my shoes on. How, I don't know. Let me just tell you that this man could work wonders with his hands.

"Thanks," I said as I took his extended hand and stood up. "So what are you cooking today?"

He smiled down at me. "We'll see."

The house was quiet as we made our way to the kitchen. We had four of Abe's men guarding the house at the moment but it seemed like the house was empty. Even when everyone was home-which consisted of eight guardians, Lissa, me, Dimitri, and Christian- the only noise came from the four of us.

When we got to the kitchen I took a seat on a stool and watched as Dimitri started cooking. He moved the knife so fast that I thought he was going to cut himself, but he never did. His movements were precise and graceful, making it look like an art more than anything.

I was going to ask him something when one of Abe's men passed by, probably on his way to the bathroom or something. "Hey Boris," I called. He was a tall man, as tall as Dimitri, but with bigger muscles and a thicker neck. Although he looked scary and ready to kill you, he was one of the kindest persons I had ever met. Dimitri had told me that his name meant 'small' in Russian, which made me laugh. This man was anything but small.

"How can I help you Ms. Hathaway?" he said coming to a stop in front of me.

"Have you heard anything from Abe?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, not since he called to see how things were doing."

I let out a sigh. "Okay thanks." He nodded curtly and left.

Abe's men had been trying to track down the queen's murderer and Victor with no success. I don't know how it was possible that they hadn't even discovered anything new in the last seven months.

"Don't worry too much about that," said Dimitri as if he had read my mind.

"I just can't help it."

He came over to me and kissed the top of my head. "Everything will work out fine Roza."

We had our breakfast/lunch and then plopped down on one of the couches in the living room. I snuggled in the crook under Dimitri's arm and rested my head on him as we watched TV. There was nothing too interesting to watch and I found my mind wandering in a random path.

"Dimitri?"

"Hmm?" He continued looking at the TV for a second longer before turning to look at me.

"Maybe we should move to the UK," I said.

"What?" he said confused.

"Yeah so our kids could have a British accent."

He started laughing. "Only you Rose would think of that."

I joined in his laughter. "So no?"

"How about they grow up with a Russian accent instead?" he offered.

"Well if it's as sexy as yours, then I don't mind," I said. I craned my neck and kissed him in the hollow under his ear. Slowly I trailed kisses along his jaw until I reached his soft lips waiting for mine. Our mouths moved in sync, already used to the shape of each other from experience. We shifted our bodies as our hands roamed over each other and got tangled in handfuls of hair.

"We can't…here," said Dimitri between kisses.

"I don't…care," I said.

Just as I was starting to take off Dimitri's shirt I heard a gasp behind us. We turned around to see Lissa and Christian standing there with what seemed to be like a million bags. What was it with the interruptions today?

Lissa mumbled a sorry and averted her eyes while Christian smirked and looked straight at us. "Get a room," he said.

"Whatever," I said as I disentangled from Dimitri. "So where did u guys go?"

Lissa looked at me then with excitement in her eyes. "You will not believe what I got," she exclaimed.

I smiled. I always liked seeing her happy. "Alright let's see it." From behind her two of Abe's men came carrying a big box. "What's that?" I asked.

"It's the most beautiful crib you have ever seen!"

"Liss—"

"No don't say anything," she said raising a hand.

"But—"

"No buts, just accept it. Let me smother my nephews or nieces as much as I can," she said.

I grinned and shook my head. "You are going to spoil them."

"Yes I am," she said with a happy smile.

"Where should we put this?" asked one of the men.

"How about you take it upstairs? I'll show you the room," said Dimitri. "I think we should build the crib now. Rose is almost due and the babies are going to need somewhere to sleep." Then he turned to Christian. "Would you mind giving me a hand?"

"Not at all," he said and they all left upstairs.

That left me and Lissa alone in the living room. We sat down and she started going through all her bags and showing me all the clothes and toys she had bought. All the while I became more and more shocked by the pile that kept on growing.

"Did you buy a whole store?" I asked playfully.

She smiled. "Almost."

I shook my head still smiling and stared at all the things Lissa had bought. Once again the fear of motherhood and how close it was dawned on me. "What is it?" asked Lissa, noticing my change in mood.

"Nothing," I said shaking my head.

"Come on, you can tell me anything," she persisted.

"It's nothing important."

"Humor me Rose," she said.

"You want me to tell you a joke?" I asked confused.

"No silly," she laughed, "just tell me what's on your mind."

"Oh, well it's the same as always," I said finally giving in. "Just the pre birth nerves you could call them. And plus," I added, "I've come to face the truth. I'm going to stay pregnant forever."

"Why do you say that Rose?"

"Because that damn doctor has been telling me that the babies are coming and that the babies are coming but have they? No, they're still inside me."

"Well they can't keep them in there for much longer. I don't think it's good for you or them," she said.

I sighed. "No, the doctor said that if I don't go into labor in the next two days they will have to induce me"

"See? No need for melodrama Rose," she said.

"Oh I deserve to be dramatic," I said.

Lissa just smiled in response. After a while she added, "And don't worry, you're going to be a great mom."

"That's what they all say," I murmured before squatting and using the side of the couch to get up. "I'm going to get something to drink, you want anything?" I asked Lissa.

"A glass of water would be good."

"A glass of water coming right up," I said as I waddled into the kitchen.

When I opened the door to the refrigerator I felt a warm liquid run down my legs and pool around my feet. "What the—?" I said as I realized what was happening. My water had just broken.

**The birth scene is looming in the near future! Lets see how that turns out lol I'm going to have to do a lot of research...**

**Anyways, don't forget to review!**


	19. Chapter 18

**Hello hello hello! I know I don't usually post chapters during the week but I got this one done early. I want to start off by saying that I have never been pregnant or given birth, so taking that into account, my version might not be all that accurate lol I did however enjoy researchin about birth, unlike many people I know who get squemish and grossed out by birth videos. Anyways, Richelle Mead owns all.**

**Enjoy!**

**Daisy R.**

**Chapter 18**

_**Rose**_

I don't know how long I stood there looking at the floor, frozen with shock. They were finally coming. After months of waiting they were finally going to come out into the world. Dimitri and I would be able to hold them in our arms and flood them with love.

"Rose is everything alright?" I heard Lissa call from the living room. When I didn't respond she came to the kitchen. "Rose?" I looked up at her confused face. "What is it Rose?"

"I think my water just broke," I finally said.

Her eyes widened. "Oh my god! Dimitri!" she yelled.

In a flash Dimitri was there looking from me to Lissa. "What's wrong?"

"My water just broke," I told him.

Then Christian came waltzing in after Dimitri. "Did you pee yourself Hathaway?" he said when he caught sight of me.

"No, my water broke stupid," I said. His smirk fell and he just stared at me with no quick remark.

"Are you having contractions?" asked Dimitri.

I shook my head. "No, not yet."

"Okay I'm going to call the Dr. Mailtov." He took out his cell phone and then disappeared out of the room.

"I'm going to be an aunt!" said Lissa. She looked so excited that I thought she would start jumping up and down.

"Yeah and I'm going to suffer incredibly," I said. Recently I had been doing a lot of research on the internet about child birth. None of it sounded pleasant or reassuring.

Lissa looked at me with a sympathetic look. "Maybe we should get your bag ready to go."

"Right," I said. I had been planning on making the bag so I would have it ready to go, but being me, I had put it off till last minute.

We were walking out when Lissa turned around. "Christian clean up the fluid please."

His face turned to one of horror, which made me laugh. "Why do I have to do it?" He complained.

"Because everyone else is busy," said Lissa.

"But it came out of her," he said pointing at me. "I don't want to touch it."

"It's harmless Christian. Put on some gloves," she said and then we left.

Lissa talked to me while she put the things in the bag but my head was in another planet.

"Rose?"

"Huh?"

"I said maybe you should change out of those jeans."

"Oh right."

She came over and touched my arm. "Everything is going to be fine Rose."

I let out a deep breath. "Let's hope so."

My jeans and underwear came off and got replace with a clean pair. This time I put on sweats and slippers. "You know, I'm going to miss those stretchy pants. They're very comfortable," I said.

As we made our way down the stairs we talked about calling Abe and Dimitri's family so they would be there when I gave birth. When we were halfway down the stairs an unexpected pain hit me like a bat in my abdomen. I held on to the railing while my other hand automatically went to my stomach. The contractions were starting.

"Rose are you okay?" asked Lissa alarmed.

I nodded, more because I couldn't find my voice. When it passed I let out a breath. "Contractions are starting," I told her.

Her eyes widened. "Oh, we should go find Dimitri then and see what Dr. Mailtov told him." She hooked her arm with mine and we headed down the stairs to the living room.

We found Dimitri finishing up a call. "Yes I'll tell her that. Goodbye," he said before closing the cell phone. When he saw me he rushed to my side. "Rose how are you feeling?"

"The contractions have started," I told him.

"How long ago?"

I looked to Lissa for the answer. "About a minute ago," she said.

"The doctor said to head on over when the contractions started so they could monitor the progress," said Dimitri.

I nodded and lifted up the bag. "Well I'm all ready to go."

"We should head on out then," he said.

"I'll go look for Christian and tell the driver to start the car," said Lissa before leaving.

Dimitri grabbed my hand and gave me a small smile. "Are you doing okay Roza?"

I nodded. "The contractions aren't that bad actually. I can handle a little pain Comrade."

He smiled. "My brave Roza."

Lissa came in then and we took off. Inside the SUV I sat next to Dimitri while Lissa and Christian rode behind us and two guardians sat at the front.

"I called—" Dimitri didn't finish because I had taken a hold of his arm as another contraction overtook my body.

I made a funny face and Dimitri looked like he wanted to laugh. "You better not laugh," I warned him. He shook his head and was able to suppress his laughter.

When we arrived at the small hospital the doctor and staff were ready for us. They got me hooked up to a monitor and put some straps around my belly that monitored the heartbeats of the babies.

Then Dr. Mailtov did an ultrasound to see if the positions of the babies were still good. "They are both lateral and facing down, so if you want to have them vaginally you can. Or we can do a c-section."

I looked up at Dimitri. "Which should we do?"

"Whatever you feel is best Roza."

I let out a deep breath. "I guess I'll do it vaginally."

Dr. Mailtov smiled at me. "Alright dear, I'll come by and check on you in a little bit."

She left and let Dimitri and me alone in the room. "I guess we wait now," I said.

"Now we wait," he repeated.

Over the next hours my contractions started getting closer and stronger. But it was when I reached a dilation of 4 centimeters that they started getting worse. I thought surely they would cut me in half.

Somewhere after dilating 4 centimeters a nurse came in and asked if I would be having an epidural. I really didn't know what it was until Dimitri said it was a pain killer for birth pains.

The nurse then said, "You can have it so you don't have to feel the pain."

"Would the medication be inserted with an IV?" I asked.

Both the nurse and Dimitri looked at me.

"No, Rose. I would have to use a needle to put it in your system-"

"-and it'll have to been on your back, near your spinal cord," interrupted Dimitri.

_Wait, what? My spinal cord! _I thought to myself.

"Hmm, thank you but I'll be okay" I finally said to the nurse.

"Are you sure Roza? It'll help a lot" asked Dimitri.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

And so the nurse left. There was no way I was going to have a needle stuck in my back.

Dimitri didn't say anything afterwards. He was just here, holding my hand and talking in a calm and soothing tone. I don't know how he managed to stay so calm when I thought I would break his hand in two. I was just glad he was there.

In one of those contractions I couldn't handle the pain, I felt like it was going to break my back. "Oh shit," I said.

"What is it?" asked Dimitri.

I closed my eyes and rolled my head back. "My back is killing me!"

"Maybe if you apply some pressure on her back it will help her Dimka," said Olena who had arrived not long after we had.

I rolled onto my side and Dimitri came behind me and started rubbing circles on my lower back. It helped, but it didn't take the pain away. When it was over I opened my eyes and leveled my breathing.

"Are you okay?" asked Dimitri.

"Yeah it's weird, through all the pain I felt like I needed to push."

"I think you're about ready to deliver Rose," said Olena.

I turned to look at Dimitri who was holding my hand and looking at me fondly. "It's almost over. Just hang in there," he said.

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one with the contractions. You'll be lucky if you get any sex after this. You'll have to sleep on the couch!" I told him.

He smiled and gave a small chuckle. "It doesn't matter as long as you're just with me."

"You better be satisfied with that." Of course I was kidding. I don't know if _I_ could be satisfied with just that. Anyways, that's what birth control was for, to prevent accidents like this.

The doctor came in then in one of her routinely 15 minute checks. "How are you doing?"

"Well in the last one I kind of felt the urge to push," I said.

She looked at a paper that had the contractions recorded on it. "You're contractions are coming every two and a half minutes. I think you might be ready to deliver." She went to the foot of the bed and checked. Her head popped up over me belly. "You're fully dilated. We can deliver the babies now."

Since I was having twins they told me that I had to deliver them in the operating room because it was considered a high risk delivery (even though I hadn't had any complications during pregnancy). With each new contraction, the need to push became more urgent and I was ready to end all this pain.

When I got to the operating room two nurses helped me get on to the operating table and my legs on the stirrups. By that time everybody was ready in the OR: my doctor, another OB, two nurses, an anesthesiologist in case they needed to do an emergency c-section, and Dimitri looking sexy in his blue scrubs.

"In the next contraction you can start pushing," said Dr. Mailtov.

So when the next contraction came I pushed with all my strength. Dimitri stood next to me holding my hand and resting his other hand on my thigh. I don't know how he could have stayed standing there calm when I was grasping his hand so hard. I was left panting after the contraction was gone. "You are going to pay for this Belikov!" I snapped.

"You're doing great Rose. I think we might get the baby crowning in the next contraction," said Dr. Mailtov. So when the next contraction came I was able to get three pushes in and the top of the baby's head out.

Dr. Mailtov patted my leg. "Good job Rose. This little guy will be out in the next one."

"Oh thank god," I said.

When the next contraction came I pushed and held Dmitri's hand so hard I actually thought I was going to break something when finally I felt the sensation of a pop. "The head's out, keep going Rose!" said Dr. Mailtov. With the next push the rest of the baby was out and I heard what sounded like a tiny kitten crying.

"Congratulations you've got a healthy baby girl! Why don't you come cut the umbilical cord daddy?" asked Dr. Mailtov. Dimitri cut the cord and got to hold the baby before they took her off to get cleaned up and measured.

"Can I hold her?" I asked.

Dr. Mailtov shook her head. "Focus Rose, we still have one more in there. In the next contraction you are going to push again," she ordered.

I nodded and when the next contraction came I pushed and with another feeling of a pop came the other baby. Her little cries filled the room.

"Congratulations you've got another healthy…boy. Look at that, you got the best of both worlds," she said. Dimitri cut the cord again before they took away our baby boy.

After expelling the placentas and getting fixed up, I was rolled to my room. There I was able to hold the babies to my chest. As I held them in my arms, I realized the pain I felt a few minutes ago was nothing to how it felt having them with me here. The pain was really worth it!

I looked down at their tinny faces where two wondrous pairs of gray eyes were looking back at me.

I looked up at Dimitri who turned to me. "Is there something you want to tell me Rose?"

"Yeah you're not the dad. They're the milk man's kids," I said jokingly. He shook his head and chuckled.

"Look at what we made Comrade," I told Dimitri.

He leaned in and gave me a gentle kiss. "You did great," he said. "Thank you."

I looked him straight in the eyes. "I love you."

"I love you too, Roza."

"Hmm, Dimitri, you do know I wasn't being serious about sleeping on the couch right?"

"Oh, were you? It sounded like you meant it" said Dimitri in a serious tone.

"No, I swear I was just-" I started to say in an anxious voice

"I'm just kidding Rose, I know you were. Anyways you had to let the pain out somehow," he replied in a humorous tone.

The nurse came in then and showed me how to breast feed them. Soon after my tiredness took the best of me and I fell asleep.

**Hope you guys enjoyed!**

**I cant wait for you guys to find out what happens in the next and last chapters! You might not believe what you read...**

**So stay tuned!**


	20. Authour's Note

**A/N**

Hello everyone who is still interested in this story! My deep apologies for not updating in such a long time. No I have not forgotten about the story nor am I finished with it. I am still working on the chapters and I have been since I got out on winter break. Chapter 19 is currently being corrected by my beta and will be posted up soon. You guys probably already have the real Last Sacrifice and have read it all if not several times anyways. So if you are still looking forward to finding out what happens in my version, stay tuned. I plan on finishing this story before I go back to school, which is on January 4. And I do have some twists coming your way…

Happy Holidays!

Daisy R.


	21. Chapter 19

**Hey Everyone! It's been a long time, hasn't it? I hope everyone has been enjoying their time off work and school! Here is chapter 19 after all the wait (what was it, like two months? sorry...). Anyways, Richelle Mead owns the characters.**

**Enjoy!**

**Daisy R.**

**Chapter 19**

_**Rose**_

**2 months Later **

"Dimitri…it's your turn," I mumbled as I blindly felt around the bed for him. My hand came up empty because being the caring father that he was, he had already gone to quiet the crying baby.

A minute or so later Dimitri was at my side gently shaking my shoulder. "Rose, Sasha and Anya are hungry."

"Both of them?"

"Yes"

I sat up and rubbed my eyes before unbuttoning my shirt so I could start feeding them. I positioned a baby on my each side and they quickly latched one. It was rare the time that both of them were hungry at the same time. It was either one or the other.

"What time is it?" I asked as I stifled a yawn.

"It's eight in the morning," said Dimitri as he got in bed and draped and arm around my shoulders. "Couldn't sleep again?" he asked.

I shook my head. "The same dream kept waking me up." The same dream where I saw everyone that I loved dead and bloody while I held the knife that killed them.

He kissed the top of my head and rubbed my shoulder. "It's just a dream, Rose. Don't pay any attention to it."

"It's not just the dream Dimitri. We know there's someone who wants me gone. They killed the queen, they framed me, and they've tried to kill me multiple times. What if they find me and hurt Anya and Sasha and—"

He placed his hands on either side of my face and made me look at him. "Rose, I will never let anything happen to either of you. You don't have to worry about anything."

"But I just have this feeling that—"

"Rose, it's all in your head. All of it. I'm here to protect my family." His voice was stern but gentle at the same time.

I sighed and nodded my head. It wasn't easy to dismiss this fear that always managed to creep up on me. I just don't think I could bear it if anything happened to them. My little family was the center of my life now.

I shook my head and told myself to stop thinking about that. Instead I looked down at the feeding babies. Anya's wondrous gray eyes looked up at me as she fed. Their gray eyes were as big a mystery to us as their actual conception. Maybe the two had something to do with each other. We had thought that their eyes would turn to brown since most babies' eyes change, but when they remained grey we went straight to Dr. Mailtov. She told us not to worry, that usually during the first six months their eye color changes so we just dismissed it. Maybe it had been foolish to jump to conclusions but I couldn't help it. There were two lives depending on me and I wouldn't let anything happen to them.

These last two months had been like nothing I had expected. I had an idea of what was coming, but nothing can truly prepare you for the life of a parent. I couldn't worry about me anymore, now I had to worry about Sasha and Anya. And to add on top of that, I felt like I barely got any sleep. The first couple of weeks had been the worst. Just getting used to waking up in the middle of the night was hard for me who, as everyone knows, loves her sleep. But I had gotten used to it and know it seemed part of my routine. Not to mention that Anya and Sasha only woke up about once during the night and Dimitri and I always took turns on going to check on them. So it was getting easier to get used to.

Anya had stopped eating so I gave her to Dimitri so he could burp her while Sasha finished up. "You're gonna finish all the milk aren't you?" I told him in a baby voice. Of course I knew that couldn't happen. Dr. Mailtov had assured me that my body would produce as much milk as was needed. Let me just tell you, my boobs were humongous. They had been a good size to begin with, but with the pregnancy they had just grown enormous. He never admitted it, but I bet Dimitri loved it.

When Sasha was done I turned my attention to burping him. When I heard him burp I set him down on the bed next to his sister and just stared at them. They were the most beautiful babies I had ever seen, but maybe that was just a bias opinion. We had ended up choosing Alekzander Dimitri Belikov Hathaway for the boy and Anya Roza Belikov Hathaway for the girl (they needed to keep the Hathaway name so people would know not to mess with them). Dimitri had insisted on calling the girl Roza so I insisted we call the boy Dimitri. I was satisfied with their names, they seemed to fit them.

I was caught off guard when Dimitri bent down and kissed me. And it wasn't a little peck on the lips. It was one of this passionate kisses that reminded me of when we had been under Victor's lust charm. Dimitri pulled back slightly just enough to make eye contact. The look in his eyes was pure love. "I love you Roza. Thank you for giving me what I wanted most in life and more."

I smiled at him and kissed him. I put my hands on either side of his face and looked him straight on. "You don't have to thank me Dimitri. You've made my life complete." He smiled and leaned down to kiss me again.

When we heard a knock on the door we pulled apart and I buttoned up my shirt that I had forgotten to close after I was done breast feeding. "Come in," I said.

"I didn't interrupt anything did I?" asked Lissa as she came in.

I shook my head. "I had just finished feeding them," I said as I inclined my head towards Anya and Sasha.

She came over to the bed and leaned over the babies. "And how are my favorite niece and nephew doing today?"

"They are the happiest babies in the world. Aren't you?" I told them with a big smile. And for the first time, Sasha rewarded me with his first toothless smile.

"Oh my god he smiled! That's his first smile right?" said Lissa.

"Yeah," I said surprised but happy. It was the first smile we had gotten from either of them.

"Oh they are growing too fast," said Lissa.

"Don't say that! They are going to be my babies forever," I said.

"You know they're gonna run away from you as soon as they are able to walk," said Christian.

"Ha ha," I said sarcastically. "The only they're going to be running away from is you."

"Oh yeah? Well—"

"I think they need a change of diapers," interrupted Dimitri.

I brought my nose to the diaper area and sure enough I could smell the results of my milk. "I'll go change them," I said as I started to get up.

"No I'll go Rose," said Dimitri.

"You sure?"

"Yes. You should rest."

"Okay. But next time I'll do it."

"Alright." He kissed the top of my head before picking up Sasha.

"Why don't you help Dimitri take Anya?" Lissa told Christian.

"You better not drop her," I warned him.

"Of course I'm not going to drop her," he said before he and Dimitri left the room.

"How are you doing?" asked Lissa, eyeing me.

I rubbed my eyes. "Okay, just tired."

"You sure? Is there something you want to talk about?"

"It's just the same stuff Liss. It's really been bothering me lately."

"You know everything is going to work out fine," she told me.

"Nothing is for sure Liss."

She reached over and hugged me. "Nothing bad is going to happen Rose. Have faith."

I didn't say anything and we just sat there hugging each other. "Rose, I've been thinking about something lately."

I let her go and pulled back. "What?"

"I've been thinking that maybe it's time that I go back to court," she said without breaking eye contact.

When I heard those words leave her mouth I felt a sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach. I knew that this day would come, but I had gotten so used to having her around the last few months.

"You're not mad are you?" she asked in a worried tone.

"No of course not," I said. "I just got used to having you here."

"Once things get settled, you can come back to court and we'll be together again," she said optimistically.

"But what if that never happens Liss? What if this mess never gets organized and I have to stay over here?"

"Rose it will get fixed. I promise." She looked at me with such intensity in her eyes that it almost scared me.

"Please don't go trying to do anything drastic again," I warned her.

"Don't worry," she said.

We stayed quiet until I spoke. "So when were you thinking of leaving?" I asked.

"Tomorrow. I already called Abe and arranged everything."

"Wow."

"I know it's kind of abrupt but I think I've spent enough time away. It's time for me to go back and face everything."

"Yeah I they're probably starting to think that someone kidnapped you," I said.

She smiled. "You always know how to cheer me up."

"Come on," I said grabbing her arm, "let's go force your boyfriend to make us some breakfast."

The next day we were waiting downstairs for the guardians to get the car ready when we heard a knock on the door. I looked at the clock on the wall that said it was 4 am. "Who could it be at this hour?" I asked. Lissa looked at me with the same question in her eyes.

"I'll get it," said Dimitri. He opened the door to reveal Abe standing there.

"Dimitri. How are you doing my boy?" he asked cheery.

"Good sir," said Dimitri.

"You're practically part of the family. Call me Abe."

Dimitri smiled. "Okay Abe."

"That's more like it. And how is my _kiz_ doing?" he asked as he approached me.

"I'm doing fine," I said.

"And the little rascals?"

"They are sleeping, so don't go waking them up. If you do, then I'll make you put them to sleep," I warned him.

"Okay, okay. I won't make a lot of noise," he said.

"So what brings you by old man?"

"This," he said as he stepped to the side and pointed to the door. Standing in the doorway was Nikolai, Victoria's friend and Lissa's brother.

"Nikolai," I said. "How are you?"

He had been looking at Lissa who was in turn looking back at him. He turned and as if for the first time noticed that I was there. "Rose. I'm doing fine." After that, no one said anything.

Slowly Lissa walked up to him until there were only a few steps between them. She studied him, probably seeing all the similarities to her father and Andre. Soon there were tears running down Lissa's cheeks.

"Hi," she said as she wiped away tears with the back of her hand.

"Hey," said Nikolai. Slowly he reached out and wiped away a tear with his thumb.

She smiled at him. "Welcome to the family."

He smiled back at her. "Thanks." Then Lissa reached out and tentatively hugged him as we all watched. Little was said after that.

Shortly after, Lissa and Christian left accompanied by Abe and Nikolai.

The next day I was sitting on the couch with Dimitri when a wave of emotions rolled into me.

"What is it?" asked Dimitri who had noticed something wrong.

"Lissa. She's feeling…I don't know what she's feeling," I said as I tried to pin point what exactly she was feeling.

"Is she hurt? Is she in danger?"

"No, no," I said shaking my head. "Hold on, let me check on her through the bond."

Lissa was standing in front of the royal families at court- the Badicas, the Contas, the Ozeras, the Drozdov, the Voda, the Dashkov, the Zeklos, the Ivashkov, the Szelsky, the Tarus, and the Lazars.

"There is also something I need to tell you all," said Lissa.

"Go ahead Princess."

She turned her head and nodded and out came Nikolai. He stopped at Lissa's side.

"Who is this Vassilisa?"

She took a deep breath before answering. "This is my brother Nikolai." There were shocked gasps and whispers all around the room.

"Silence," said Prince Ivashkov (Nathan), "What do you mean your brother?"

"He is my half brother. My father had…an affair with another woman a year after I was born." It pained her to admit it, but she knew she had to do it.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Yes. We ran some DNA tests and they came back positive."

"But he is not even a Moroi. He is a _Dhampir,_" spat one of the royals.

"It doesn't matter," said Lissa who was starting to get mad. "He is my brother. We share the same blood and that makes him a royal."

"Very well. If you can show us proof that he is indeed you brother, we will accept him as what he is."

Lissa nodded and stepped forward to hand them some papers that she had produced from her bag. Nathan looked them over and looked back up at Lissa.

He then turned his eyes to Nikolai. He handed the papers around to the rest of the royal heads. Then they all started discussing something in hushed tones. Prince Badica stood up. "Vasilisa, Nikolai, would you mind stepping out for a moment?"

"Of course Prince Badica," said Lissa. Then she and Nikolai went outside the doors and waited to be called in.

As they stood outside, Lissa stared at Nikolai as he looked down the hall. There were mixed feelings in Lissa. She felt happy and excited to know that she was not the last Dragomir, but she felt betrayed and angry at her father. She had thought so highly of him, she had thought that he was the most honorable man ever. She had thought the same about Andre.

When Nikolai looked up he made eye contact with Lissa and gave her a small smile. Tentative, but kind.

A few more minutes passed before they were told that they could go inside.

Prince Badica stood up. "Vasilisa, seeing as how you are not indeed the last of the Dragomir, we have voted and decided that you shall become the next queen."

"Are you sure?" she asked, keeping her voice leveled despite how shocked she was feeling.

"Yes, Vassilisa. In the time that you were away, we talked about it in great detail. We have been without a king or queen for too long. Since you are the next in line, you shall become the queen," said Prince Badica.

"I'm sorry I was away for so long. I just—"

Prince Badica raised his hand and shook his head. "Do not worry about that Vassilisa. It is understandable and we do not hold it against you."

"Thank you," she said as she bowed her head.

"It is settled then. We will have your crowning ceremony tomorrow evening. We cannot go without a queen any longer," said Princess Szelsky.

They all stood up to bow as they said, "We will see you tomorrow Queen Vasilisa." They turned to Nikolai and bowed. "Welcome Lord Nikolai Dragomir."

I snapped back into my head to find Dimitri staring at me. "Well?" he asked when he saw that I had returned.

"We have the first official royal dhampir."

A few days later after Lissa had officially become the queen I received a call from her.

"Rose, I've got great news," she said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"You can come back to the court!"

"What? Why?"

"Remember that janitor who said that you weren't in your room around the time Tatiana was murdered and that you didn't have an alibi?"

"Yeah…"

"Well somehow he confessed and said that what he had said was a lie. That someone had paid him to say that so that you would be framed."

My heart started racing at the thought of finding out who had framed me. "Who was it?"

"He didn't say." Her voice sounded regretful. "He just admitted to lying but wouldn't give out a name."

"Where is he?"

"He's still under questioning. But you can come back now Rose. You're not a suspect anymore."

"I don't know Liss—"

"Rose, come on. Everything has been cleared and you can come back now."

"You wouldn't have something to do with this sudden change of heart of that guy, now would you?" Knowing Lissa, she had probably gone and compelled the guy to say that stuff.

"Of course not, Rose. You know I wouldn't mess in something like this."

"I'm not so sure. I mean, you were planning on breaking me out."

"That was different, they were going to kill you Rose. I couldn't let that happen. Not to my best friend and sister."

"Thanks Liss."

"It's settled then. Go pack up because Abe's men are already on their way to pick you up."

"How did you—"

"I knew you'd come around," she said.

I smiled. "Thanks Liss. For everything."

Four hours later we were packed up and on the jet to the court. I hadn't been able to bring everything but Lissa said that we could send for it later. The plane ride was peaceful and when we arrived Lissa was waiting for us on the platform.

When she saw me she ran and gave me a big hug. "It's only been like a week since we last saw each other," I said.

"I know but it felt like a year."

I smiled. "I know."

Dimitri came out of the plane holding both baby carriers. "Oh! I'm sorry," I said as I reached over and took one of the carriers.

Dimitri courtly bowed. "Queen Vassilisa."

"Oh uh, thank you Dimitri. Come on," said Lissa. "I've got your place all set up."

She led us to one of the apartments that had four bedrooms and two bathrooms. The house was already furnished and it even had a master bedroom equipped with Jacuzzi bathtub and a separate shower.

"Let me show you the babies' room. You're going to love it!" she looked so excited that I thought she would start jumping up and down any minute.

Behind the door was the most beautiful baby nursery I had ever seen. The ceiling was painted so it looked like there were soft clouds. The walls were painted in a soft blue and had an under-the-water theme.

"Liss, thank you!" I said as I reached out and hugged her.

"Anything for my best friend," she said.

"Thank you Queen Vassilisa," said Dimitri.

"Could you not call me queen? At least not when it's just us. It makes me feel weird."

Dimitri smiled. "Okay."

"Maybe we should put Anya and Sasha to sleep. They must be tired," I said.

Dimitri nodded. "It was a long flight."

"Queen Vassilisa," said one of her guards. "You have a meeting in twenty minutes. You must go now."

"Thank you Thomas," she said. "I'll let you two settle down. See you later Rose. Good bye Dimitri."

"Bye Liss and thank you."

"Don't mention it," she said before leaving the room.

The babies were tired so it didn't take long to get them asleep after I fed them. After putting them down Dimitri and I headed to the living room and fell asleep on the couch.

**I seriously prmise I wont take as long to post up the next chapter. It's almost done :)**


	22. Chapter 20

**Hey guys! I know this chapter is long over due but here it is. Hope you enjoy when the killer is finally revealed. Dun dun dun! lol**

**Enjoy!**

**Daisy R.**

**Chapter 20**

_**Rose**_

**2 Months Later…**

Before I knew it, the wedding day was looming in the near future. And when I say near future I mean like a day away. Thanks to Lissa and a wedding planner, all the details had been taken care of from the flowers to the cake to all the decorations.

"You look perfect!" I turned to Lissa whose eyes shone with awe.

We were doing our last fitting at a bridal shop outside of the Court. I had started back on my training and had lost the baby weight, so we were doing this last fitting to make sure the dress fit me perfectly. And according to Lissa, it did. I looked down at the skirt of my dress and ran my hands over my now flat tummy, smoothing out the fabric. The silk felt smooth and cool under my fingers.

The dress was white but not traditional by any means. Mine had a red layer of see-through fabric that wrapped around my upper body and flowed down the side of my skirt. I knew it was the one from the first time I saw it. It was traditional, but with a kick, just like me.

I finally looked up to see my reflection. I had seen myself in this dress almost a hundred times, but this time I _did_ look perfect. I could already imagine the look on Dimitri's face when he saw me in this gorgeous dress. His loving gaze observing and looking me made me smile just thinking about it.

"What?" asked Lissa.

"Huh?" I said coming back to myself.

"Why are you smiling?"

"Oh uh…just thinking," I said.

She narrowed her eyes on me. "What is going on in that head of yours Rosemarie Hathaway?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know." Especially since it involved me and Dimitri doing explicit things.

Lissa shook her head and smiled. "Sometimes I think it would be interesting if the bond was the other way around and _I _could see inside your head."

"Trust me, it's not fun seeing your best friend get hot and heavy with her boyfriend," I said recalling past memories of when that happened to me. It had _not_ been fun.

Lissa's cheeks blushed with embarrassment and she looked away. "You really didn't see that much did you?"

I smiled at her embarrassment. "Nah, I was able to get out of your head before anything too graphic started."

"Good," she said.

"Anyways," I said wanting to change the subject and save Lissa from any more embarrassment. "You look really cute in your bridesmaid dress."

She looked down at her dress then at her reflection on the mirror. "I do, don't I?"

"Yup. You better not outshine me in my own wedding," I warned jokingly.

"Don't worry; no one will be able to take their eyes off you. You'll be the most beautiful woman in that room. Probably even the whole world," she said as she came to stand behind me.

As long as Dimitri thought so, I didn't care what anyone else thought. I turned around and put my arms around Lissa. "Thank you for everything Liss," I said against her shoulder.

"You're my best friend, Rose. My sister. I don't know what I would do or how different my life would be without you."

"Neither do I," I said.

After changing back into our normal clothes we went back to Court. Following Lissa's orders, I went straight home to rest up for what was to be the best bachelorette party in the history of mankind. I hadn't wanted one, but Lissa had insisted that it was a necessity. We would have a bachelorette party while Dimitri and the guys had their own bachelor party.

When I arrived home I found Dimitri sitting on a couch reading one of his favorite westerns. I went to the couch and curled up next to him, resting my head on his chest while he put his arm around me.

"How was the fitting," he said, not taking his eyes off the book.

"Just wait, I'm going to blow your mind away when you see me," I said.

He looked down at me and lifted up an eyebrow. "Oh?"

I nodded and smiled. He brought his face close to mine and whispered in my ear, "I could do things that would blow your mind away right now."

My smile grew even more. "Oh yeah, like what?" I challenged.

He brought his lips to mine for a kiss that soon picked up the pace. Within seconds we were both shirtless. As I was reaching to unbutton his jeans, he stopped me.

"You still want to keep this abstinence thing until after the wedding?" I said. Dimitri had insisted that we not have sex until after the wedding. Its not like we hadn't done it before, but still he insisted.

"Yes."

I brought my lips up to meet his and managed to swiftly swap our positions so that I was on top. I moved my mouth lower and left trails of soft kisses on his neck and chest and back up to his mouth while grinding my hip to his. "Still want to wait?" I said.

He swallowed and nodded, but I could see his will wavering. Just a little more and he would give in. So I continued my seduction and asked him again, "Still want to wait?"

He met my lips with such eagerness that I knew I had won and made him ditch his abstinence vow. Without breaking the kiss, he took me in his arms and we ended up on the bed.

"You didn't like the couch?" I said.

"Not enough room," he grunted before bringing his mouth back to mine.

All our clothes came off and our hands roamed each other's body, retracing lines that we had memorized. His hands that could be oh so deadly were loving and caring as they caressed my body; leaving a hot trail after them, like the path that lava leaves as it flows from a volcano.

Dimitri had promised to do things that would blow my mind away, and oh boy did he fulfill his promise! He did things that I had never thought possible. "You were holding out on me," I chastised him later as we lay in each other's arms.

"I was saving it for after the wedding, but well," he paused and traced his hand from my shoulder to my hip, "you broke my will."

"And I'm glad I did," I said as I kissed him again.

Dimitri smiled and shook his head. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you, Roza."

"Hopefully more of what you showed me earlier," I said with a grin of my own.

Dimitri was about to say something else when we heard the babies crying through the baby monitor. He was starting to get up when I pushed him down.

"I'll go," I told him.

After putting on my robe I headed to the baby nursery where I found Sasha crying at the top of his lungs and Anya staring up at the ceiling and wiggling around.

"You're hungry aren't you?" I spoke to Sasha in a baby voice.

As soon as he heard my voice he quieted down. I grabbed him and gave him a kiss before sitting down on the rocking chair and proceeding to feed him. I stroked his hair and hummed one of the Russian lullabies that I heard Dimitri hum so much to the twins. After burping him I rocked with him a little while longer so he would go back to sleep.

When I was about to get up and put Sasha back in his crib I saw Dimitri leaning on the doorway and gazing at me.

"What?" I asked, feeling slightly shy against his scrutiny.

He came toward us and knelt down to my eye level. "I love you," he said. "You too, _siyn_," he said, using the Russian word for son. Then he kissed my forehead and Sasha's. As if on queue, Anya started crying. Dimitri stood up and gently took Anya out of her crib. "I didn't forget you, _doich,_" he said with a smile.

As I looked at Dimitri with Anya and down at Sasha in my arms, I felt truly happy with my life. With my perfect little family.

Later on that evening I found myself getting ready for my bachelorette party. I was putting on the finishing touches on my make-up I heard a knock on the door.

Dimitri was in the shower, and expecting it to be Lissa I yelled, "Come in!" I closed my bag and started making my way to the living room where Lissa was waiting. "You know, I don't think a queen should be going to a bachelorette party, people could—" I cut off mid sentence, seeing who it really was. Dmitri's mother and sisters stood in front of me.

"Olena!" I said as I ran to her and gave her a big hug. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We couldn't miss my brother's wedding," said Sonya with a smile.

"Where are my twin niece and nephew? I want to see them!" piped in Victoria.

I smiled. "They're in the nursery. Come on, I'll show you guys."

They all followed me and when they saw the babies they let out cries of happiness.

"Oh look at how big they've grown!"

"Look at their hair! They have a full set of hair already!" _Of course, they take after me_, I thought smugly.

"Oh my _god_, look at their eyes!"

"It almost feels like I'm looking into clouds," said Victoria in awe. It was true, the twins had eyes a shade of gray that looked clear and cloudy at the same time.

Their comments kept coming until they ran out of things to point out. At which point Dimitri came in after finishing his shower. Then they all went to him to hug him and talk about how big the twins had gotten.

We all talked and caught up for a little while before it was time for me and Dimitri to leave to our bachelor parties. His sisters agreed to come along with me while Olena, Viktoria (who was considered too young to come along), Yeva, and my mother stayed home to take care of the twins. And there was no one in the world who I trusted more than Olena (I'm not so sure about my mother) to leave my babies with.

"I left some of my um, milk in the fridge for when they get hungry," I told her as I was putting on some heels. "And if there is anything that happens, anything at all, call me please."

"Don't worry Rose, everything is under control. Just go have fun," she told me with a smile.

"Okay," I said, her smile slightly easing my worry a bit. "I'll just check in on the twins one more time before I leave."

I walked in to the nursery where the babies were sleeping peacefully. I turned on an egg shaped carousel that played a nice lullaby and listened to their even breathing before carefully closing the door behind me. I walked into the living room and found everyone there.

"You better not do anything too wild, because I will find out," I warned Dimitri before we left.

He smiled and traced my cheek with his fingertips, an act that still sent chills down my spine. "The only one I do wild things with, is you."

"Let's keep it that way," I said before kissing him on the cheek before saying goodbye to everyone and taking off.

Heading off to my bachelorette party, I hadn't known what to expect. Lissa had said that she hadn't planned anything too crazy, but I still wondered. When I arrived though, I was pleased to find that it was just a room that had been transformed into a nightclub fit with flashing lights, a live DJ, a bar, and even some smoke machines. There were hot shirtless waiters walking around with trays of drinks and snack foods. It looked fun and ordinary to me, thank god.

The room was filled with just women, most of whom I knew. Everyone that I saw either said congratulations or good luck which I didn't know whether to take as a compliment or as a warning. Once the party had commenced, I found that I was actually enjoying myself.

_Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea,_ I thought to myself.

Then I felt Lissa's excitement through the bond. She felt all giddy about something, but I didn't know what.

Until she went up on the stage.

"Ladies can I have your attention!" she said taking the microphone. Everyone went silent. "Thank you all for coming and I hope you've been enjoying yourselves," she said, which got her a lot of cheers from the crowd. "Now for the grand finale, I have a special surprise for my best friend Rose. Come on stage guys!"

The crowd was silent until they saw the group of men that went up on stage and positioned themselves in a line.

_Oh god, had Lissa gotten strippers?_

"Enjoy!" she said before getting off stage.

Then the music started and the guys started dancing…and taking off their clothes. The ladies went wild. I have to admit though, these guys were smoking hot.

Lissa came to stand next to me. "Like your surprise?" she asked with a smile.

I just smiled and shook my head. I didn't really mind them…until one of them came off stage and started pulling me towards the stage. He had a mask on and I couldn't see his face. I shook my head and pulled back but he wouldn't take no for an answer. I was about to start using physical power when he surprised me by taking me in his arms and forcefully taking me on stage. He sat me on a chair on the stage, and so help me god, he started giving me a lap dance in front of everyone. The cheers from the ladies in the crowd went wild while I burned with embarrassment. Although I didn't know who this stranger was, there was something familiar about him, something I couldn't put my finger on.

When he was done with his dance he whispered in my ear, "I'll see you tomorrow at the end of the aisle," before leaving the stage.

_At the end of the aisle? What the—_ I was dumbfounded until the wheels in my head started turning. Dimitri had just given me a lap dance. Damn it, and I hadn't even enjoyed it because I thought he had been a stranger. I would have to convince him to do it again in private…

Before it became too late, the party ended. I _did_ have a wedding tomorrow after all. I needed my beauty sleep. Lissa had insisted that I sleep in her room because it was traditional that the groom and bride not see each other the night before the big day. She also insisted that Olena take care of the twins over night so I could have a full night's sleep. I had refused but eventually gave in. So I crashed out in Lissa's room.

When I awoke I felt fully rested and calm, something I hadn't had the pleasure of in months. Then reality started sinking in. I was getting married today. To Dimitri. In just a few hours. Oh god, was I ready for this?

_What are you talking about? Of course you are, Rose! You're not getting married to a stranger, you're getting married to Dimitri, your soul mate, your other half, the father of your children, the man you love,_ said a calm voice inside my head.

I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. Lissa's jade green eyes were staring right into mine.

"Uh, you're not going to kiss me, are you?" I asked her jokingly.

"Mm, maybe," she said pretending to consider it.

"Just give me a heads up," I said as I sat up. "What time is it?"

"It's 3 pm," she said. "I was about to wake you up."

"Sure, say what you want, but I know that you were going to try something sneaky on me."

She had a humorous glint in her eyes. "How do you know I still won't?"

"Because we have two very disappointed men," I said.

She laughed. "OK I won't try anything. Come on, we need to get ready," she said as she stood up.

I tried to get up but couldn't. My nervousness had frozen me to place. I knew it was foolish but they were still gnawing at me. Lissa looked down at me, observing me.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, just stupid nerves. And I miss my babies," I added.

She smiled down at me and sat next to me. "Everything is going to be fine, Rose."

"I know, but…," I let out a breath, "what if I'm not like, a good wife? Getting married is not something I had actually ever planned on doing."

She stood up and walked over to a nightstand and picked up a small jewelry box that I hadn't noticed there. "I was going to give this to you later, but I think now is a good time," she said.

She opened the box to reveal a silver necklace with a red rose pendant. It was like the one we had seen that one time at the mall in Missoula, but this one was prettier.

"Liss, it's beautiful," I said.

She smiled. "Just like its owner. When you see it, just remember all the good in life that you've been through and that await you. Rose, you and Dimitri love each other and that's what matters. I've watched you and when you two are together, there's this chemistry between you that can't be missed. I don't know how I never noticed it back at St. Vladimir's. Anyway, my point is that when you two are together, you're perfect. I know that you guys will help each other out through anything and everything." She gently touched my shoulder and smiled.

I knew that what she was saying was true, and her words comforted me. Dimitri and I were two parts of a whole that fit perfectly together. We would be there for each other in any situation.

"Thanks Liss," I said and then gave her a hug.

"Now I think we should really start getting ready before we start running late," she said.

After that everything was sort of a blur. I took a shower and then got my hair and make-up done by some professionals that Lissa had hired. All of Dimitri's sisters and his mom were there too, along with my mother and Lissa. The only thing that I had really insisted on for the wedding was that I only have one bridesmaid: Lissa.

When it was time for the ceremony I stood in front of the full-length mirror on the wall and looked at myself. I was astounded by the person that looked back at me. She looked beautiful and nervous, but above all, happy. My dress fit me perfectly and the necklace that Lissa had given me hung in the middle of my chest. The _nazar_ that my mother had given me hung from a bracelet on my wrist.

Everyone had left and I hadn't noticed that my mom was still in the room until she touched my shoulder. I turned to her and I swear she looked like she was about to cry. I smiled at her and she smiled back. "You look so beautiful Rose," she said.

"Thanks mom, for everything," I said before giving her a hug.

"I'm so proud of you, even though I don't say it often. You turned out to be such a great person," she said on my shoulder.

Now I was about to cry. She had never told me that, and the tone in which she told me, so full of love and pride, almost made me go overboard. "You're going to make me cry," I said with a small laugh.

She gave a small laugh and pulled back. "Come on, you don't want to keep the groom waiting too long."

We made our way over to a small chapel at the Court. Another thing I had insisted on for the wedding was that it be held in a small chapel with only our closest friends. Anyone else was fine to go to the reception afterward.

In the front we found Abe waiting for me. He was impeccably dressed, but to my surprised he had ditched his flashy scarf for a tie. When he saw us coming, he smiled. "Look at you _Kiz_," he said.

"You don't look so bad yourself _Zmey_," I responded.

"Can you expect anything else of me?"

I smile. "No, of course not."

He stuck out his arm so I could hook mine through his. "Come on _Kiz_, we have a wedding to attend."

Even being a small chapel, it was beautiful. It had breath taking stained glass windows that set off amazing colors along the walls and ceiling. Inside there was a total of seven rows of pews that had been decorated with white flowers on each end.

When I started walking down the aisle, the string quartet started playing Pachelbel's Cannon. Everyone stood up and turned around to look at me as I proceeded to the front where Dimitri awaited me. I looked at everyone until my eyes met Dimitri's. When he was me he gave one his smiles that made my knees go weak.

He was dressed in a nicely tailored black suit with red to match my dress. It took all my will to not take off running into his arms.

When I finally reached the altar, Abe whispered in my ear, "My daughter, be happy."

"Thanks, dad," I said giving him a hug.

The ceremony proceeded after that, and just like when I had gotten ready, everything went by fast. Before I knew it, we had said "I do" and signed the papers. All I remember during the whole ceremony was thinking, _he's going to be mine forever, nothing can separate us now._

Afterward someone handed me the twins that had been dressed in what was probably baby designer clothing. _A gift from aunt Lissa_.

We all headed to the reception afterward that was held in one of the Court's big halls. Most people in there I recognized, but there were a few I didn't. I didn't really mind though, as long as everyone was having fun.

People kept coming up to me telling me how pretty I looked and what a beautiful reception it was. I was surprised when Sydney and Adrian came up to congratulate me. I hadn't thought she was going to come.

About halfway through, it was time for Dimitri and I to have our first dance together. Lissa had said that the song was a surprise, and when it started playing I knew Dimitri had had something to do with it. It was the Elvis Presley song that we had danced to at the cabin.

Just like the first time we had danced to this song, it was sweet and filled with love. I rested my head on his chest and enjoyed this happy moment. But too soon the song was over and different music started playing.

Dimitri grabbed my hand as we headed to our table. "So , how do you like your wedding?"

"Well , I must say this is the best wedding I've been too."

"You don't say?"

"Yes."

"And why is that?"

"Because it's ours," I said as I stood on my toes and gave him a kiss.

"Whoa, whoa, save that for the honey moon."

We turned to see Adrian standing there with Sydney who came up to me and gave me a hug.

"Congratulations," she said.

"Thanks." I pulled back. "So, you don't hate the evil creatures of the night anymore?" I said eyeing Adrian who was talking to Dimitri.

"Yes I do. He's just a cute evil creature of the night that I can stand…most of the time."

I was about to tell her something when Daniella, Adrian's mom, came over.

"Rose, I'm so happy for you. I'm glad you found someone that fits you perfectly," she said.

"Thanks," I said.

Suddenly everything went quiet. I turned toward where the DJ was set up at and knew immediately why everything settled down, Lissa was at the microphone.

I seriously thought she was going to start a speech like the tradition entitles, but what she said shocked me but earned some whistling among the guys. I turned to look at Dimitri who had a hungry look in his eyes.

"I think it's time for the groom to take the garter off the bride, don't ya think!" said Lissa to the entire room.

I felt my face get hotter and hotter when suddenly Viktoria pulled me towards a chair in the middle of the dance floor.

"Come on Rose, everyone is waiting!"

Sure enough, when I looked up people had gotten up and made a circle around me and Dimitri.

The song "Ride it" by Jay Sean started playing, at the same time Dimitri got on all fours and made his way to me.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Never had I seen Dimitri act so shameless and seductively in public, he won't even kiss me in public even though many new about us. This was just shocking and man was it turning me on!

When he was in front of me, many of the men started whistling. I started to lift up my skirt up but Dimitri shook his head at me. A minute later I understood why.

My face must have been redder than a tomato as Dimitri slid under my skirt up to my right leg where I had placed the garter when I was getting ready.

Slowly, Dimitri massaged my leg and trailed kisses up and down my leg as well. It took all the control I had not to let out a moan from the pleasure Dimitri was giving me. I did however gasp when I felt his teeth on my skin when he gripped the garter to slowly slide it off.

When Dimitri finally emerged from under my skirt with the garter in his mouth, everyone cheered. We went to get some punch after what happened. I was still feeling hot and breathless and needed something to refresh me. Adrian and Sydney followed along with Daniella, which as unexpected.

As we engaged in a conversation, Daniella came to stand next to me. Even though she was smiling and looked kind, there was something there that made me a little uncomfortable.

"Would you mind coming with me somewhere quieter? I would like to talk to you about something." She still had her smile on, but there was something off about it.

"Uh, okay…" I turned to Dimitri. "I'll be right back," I told him. He nodded and smiled at me before turning back to his conversation with Adrian. God knows what they were talking about.

I turned to Sydney and noticed how uncomfortable she looked. Whether it was because Adrian's mom was there or because she was surrounded by evil creatures of the night, I wasn't sure. "I'll be gone just a minute," I told her. She nodded and I left with Daniella.

We stopped walking when we were in a small lounge area before entering the hall. There were a few couches and armchairs scattered around the hallway.

"So what did you—" I didn't get to finish my sentence because Daniella cut in.

"Listen carefully because I'm not going to repeat myself. You will do as I say and nothing else," she said. The earlier kindness was long gone and had been replaced by a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"What—"

She took out a gun and pointed it at my head. "If you don't, I will blow your brains out and everyone in there too. Got it?"

I couldn't speak, couldn't move, couldn't think. I couldn't believe what was happening. Just as the feeling of hopelessness came, it left and my guardian instincts kicked in. I couldn't—_wouldn't_—let anything happen to my family or friends.

I observed all possible angles in which I could overpower her and take away the gun. After that I could get some of the guardians from inside to take care of her.

"Are you going to do as I say or are we going to have to do it the hard way?" she prodded.

I nodded. "I'll do as you say."

She smiled but it was all but friendly. "Good. Now you're going to go in there and tell Dimitri that you're going to come somewhere with me. Don't give him any specifics, just say that we're going to my apartment so I can give you your present. If you give him any sort of warning, everyone is dead."

I nodded and started walking back inside. What I felt in that moment I could not explain. I felt like my legs were made out of cement and my heart was going to leap out of my chest. When I reached Dimitri he was still talking to Adrian.

I cleared my throat. "Dimitri, I'm going with Daniella to her apartment. I'll be back in a bit."

Even though I tried to sound as cool as possible, I knew that Dimitri recognized something was wrong. He knew me all too well.

He gave me a puzzled look. "Is everything alright?"

I looked into his chocolate brown eyes and I wanted nothing else but to tell him everything. That Daniella was dangerous and that she had everyone under a death threat. But I couldn't risk anyone getting hurt. And that broke my heart.

I tried my best to put on an honest smile. "Everything is fine. I won't take long." I reached up and gave him a long kiss filled with love, just in case it was the last I ever gave him.

When I pulled back I could see a hunger in his eyes. "Don't take too long."

I gave him a small smile. "I won't."

As I walked away from him, I felt my world falling apart. Would I see my friends again? Would I see my mom and dad again? Would I see my babies and Dimitri again? The only thing I could see right now was Daniella who stood at the doorway with an evil smile on her lips.

We were almost outside when someone called my name from behind me. Daniella and I turned to see Meredith making her way toward us. _Oh no, _I thought. _Leave, get out of here!_ I wouldn't stand it if something happened to her because of me.

She came up to us with a warm smile. "Where are you guys going?"

"Um, we're just going to Daniella's apartment so she can give me something," I said.

"Oh, mind if I come? I was going to come outside for some fresh air but then I saw you two." She looked at us, waiting for an answer. I was going to tell her no, better that she feel hurt than she actually end up dead. But Daniella spoke before me.

She shined her a warm smile that I knew was fake. "Of course you can come along, dear."

I started panicking. How could I get rid of Meredith? Maybe I could tell her to go get something for me back at the party. Or to tell Lissa something for me. I was desperately searching for a way to get rid of her, for a way that she could remain safe.

We were outside now where the darkness and crisp cool air enveloped us. Each step we took brought us closer to our doom.

When we rounded the next corner we were encircled by a group of dark figures. Meredith and I went into Guardian mode but Daniella remained calm. She even had a satisfied smug plastered on her face.

"Don't try to fight them. You're outnumbered," she said.

"Why are you doing this Daniella?" I asked her.

"What's going on Rose?" asked Meredith with clear alarm in her voice.

Daniella let out an evil laugh. "Why am I doing this? What's going on? Haven't you figured it out by now? God, you must be stupid." Her smile fell and she looked straight at us. "I killed Tatiana. And if everything had gone to my plan, you would already be _dead_," she told me. Meredith let out an audible gasp while I stood there shocked.

_Daniella is the killer_, was my last thought before everything went black.

**So what do you guys think? I know Daniella didn't end up being the killer in _Last Sacrifice_ but well thats who I always thought it was going to be. And plus, this is my version lol**

**Hope you guys enjoyed and don't forget to review!**


	23. Chapter 21

**So, I actually posted this chapter faster lol I guess I had a muse with me :) Anyway, hope you guys like the chapter! Oh and Richelle Mead owns! And also thanks to my beta Maribel!**

**Enjoy!**

**Daisy R.**

**Chapter 21**

I didn't know where I was. The last thing I remembered was Danielle telling me that she was Tatiana's killer when everything went black.

_Daniela is the murderer._

She had killed the queen and set me up. I still couldn't wrap my head around it. Not after she had acted so nice toward me. Why would she do it? Couldn't she have found an easier way to get rid of me than to kill the queen and frame me as the killer?

I tried to move but couldn't. Apart from being blindfolded and gagged, my arms and legs were securely tied to the chair I was sitting on.

"So, you're awake," came Daniela's voice from somewhere in the room.

I heard her footsteps as she approached me. There was something about the sound of her steps that sounded graceful, silent, almost nonexistent. When she took my blindfold off I saw why.

Daniela's eyes that were looking at me were ringed in red.

My eyes widened in surprise and she smiled in response. "Don't you think it suits me?"

I was finding it hard to process everything. Not only had Daniela killed Tatiana, she had also turned Strigoi. In the middle of all my rambling thoughts, a sudden thought popped into my head. Who had she killed? My first thoughts went straight to Meredith and sure enough, behind Daniela I could see Meredith's inert body.

It felt like the world was spinning and closing in. Meredith had been a good friend of mine back at the academy. And now she was dead. I wasn't sure if I could handle anything more. My thoughts of overpowering Daniela that had been slowly forming diminished completely. When she was just a Moroi it had seemed like a piece of cake. But now? Don't get me wrong, I was experienced in killing Strigoi, but not even I could escape from my current position _and_ kill a Strigoi with no weapon.

The odds were against me. I was going to die, I was sure of it.

"What to do with you now," she said, not directly at me, but as if she was contemplating it. "You know too much, but of course that doesn't matter anymore. They can't stop me now." She laughed a humorless laugh and spread out her arms. "You can't imagine how amazing it feels!"

As she talked I assessed my current situation. I was in a dark room without any windows. In the center of the room above my head hung a bare light bulb. On the far right side corner was a set of stairs that led up to a door that presumably led to my escape. The walls were made of concrete and I found myself thinking of the time in Spokane when I and some other friends had also been held captive by Strigoi.

Daniela had noticed me searching the room. "Don't waste your time, you won't find any way to escape…or kill me."

With each second that passed, I could feel my chances of escaping growing smaller and smaller.

"They're going to find me!" I said, or well at least tried to because with the gag in my mouth it came out sounding more like muffled gibberish.

She took off my gag. "What did you say?"

"I said, they're going to find me. And when they do, you're going down." I didn't even give her a chance to respond. "How could you do this? How could you kill Tatiana and Meredith in cold blood? I thought you were nice, good, _kind_. But look what you turned out to be. How could you do this to _Adrian_?"

She looked taken aback by the mention of Adrian, but just as soon as that look crossed her features, it was gone. "He'll understand," was all she said.

There was a long silence which I cut. "So what are you going to do with me now?"

She looked down at me without any sort of expression. None at all. And that made my skin crawl even more than if she had looked evil. "I could drink all your delicious blood and kill you," she paused and traced a finger down my throat, "or I can turn you." She looked up from my neck to meet my eyes.

Her answer didn't surprise me. With Strigoi it seemed that death or conversion was the only answer. But I wasn't going to turn willingly. I would rather she tear me up to pieces.

"Oh please," I said sarcastically. "Like if I would ever turn willingly. And you know it, so just kill me already or let me go." Although either consequence had my heart racing I managed to keep my voice calm. Just the thought of never being able to be with those I loved made me want to run out of the room screaming.

She gave me a smirk. "I know you would never turn willingly. Why do you think I have you tied up?"

"So that I don't kill you." I said even though her words had sent chills down my spine. I sounded like my usual self, witty and snarky, but inside my heart was racing a hundred miles an hour.

_No,_ I thought. _I can't be turned. I can't become what I've fought so hard to kill._

"It scares you doesn't it?" she said. She sounded like she was enjoying herself. "I can see it in your eyes. You put on this mask of bravado for everyone, but I know how you truly feel."

I didn't answer. Mostly because I knew that my voice would betray whatever I would say.

"Tell you what," said Daniella. "I'll give you some time to think about it. Don't take too long though, because next time I come back you better have your mind made up." With that she left the room and left me there with Meredith's body.

My mind was racing with thoughts on how I could possibly get out of this. I would simply not be turned into one of those wretched creatures.

When I thought I had gone over every possible way to escape, I decided to escape in the only way I could: through the bond.

I wasn't sure how much time had passed, but by now they were aware that something was wrong. Dimitri, his family, Lissa, and my parents were all in the living room of mine and Dimitri's apartment. Clear worry was in everyone's faces, but Dimitri looked worried the most. His brows were furrowed in thought and there was an anxious look in his eyes.

I wished I could reach out and comfort him. Tell him that everything was going to be okay, but all I could do was watch and suffer with him.

"So all we know is that the last person to be with Rose was Daniela," said my mother. I could tell she was in her guardian mode, but she too looked worried, something that rarely happened with my mother.

Dimitri nodded. "She said she was going with Daniela to her apartment to get something. I knew there was something wrong, I could see it in her eyes. God, I was so stupid. I should have done something, I should have—" He didn't finish his sentence because he buried his face in his hands. His mother came over to comfort him and whispered into his ear.

"We need to do something," said Abe. "I'm not going to stand here while my daughter is who knows where and in possible danger." There was clear determination in his eyes and he and my mother seemed to be the only ones who were thinking straight.

"Abe," my mother touched his arm. "We should go with the other guardians and see if they have found out anything else. Maybe you could get some of your men to help somehow." He nodded. "We're going to check on things with the other guardians," said my mother before she and Abe left.

There was a long silence where no one said anything. They didn't even move until one of the twins started crying. Dimitri immediately became alert and went to check up on them. Lissa stood up and followed him into the nursery.

Dimitri was sitting on the rocking chair, holding Anya and looking down at her. Lissa stood in the doorway for a little bit before going in.

"How are you feeling?" she said.

Dimitri looked up and both Lissa and I could see a million different emotions cross his features. "I feel useless," he said with a desperate look in his eyes. "I feel like I should be doing something to find Rose."

Lissa went closer to Dimitri and put a hand on his shoulder. "There's nothing we can do right now. We just have to wait and see what information we can dig up."

Dimitri shook his head. "I knew there was something wrong. I should have gone with or done _something_."

"Dimitri, please don't beat yourself up. If she didn't tell you anything it's because she wanted you safe and I don't think she would like to see you this way."

Dimitri gave a slight nod and patted Anya's hair softly. "She so small, yet I can still see all the resemblances that she has to Rose," he said quietly.

Lissa gave his should one last reassuring squeeze. "Come on, I think Anya might be hungry."

Dimitri stood up and they left the room, but not before checking on Sasha who was soundly sleeping in his crib.

I got out of Lissa's head because I couldn't handle it anymore. I couldn't stand to see them all in pain, especially Dimitri. The sorrow was too much for me to handle, and before I knew it tears were running freely down my cheeks.

Why did this always happen to me? Just when I thought everything was going to be fine, something had to come along and turn everything upside down.

Just then Danieala came into the basement. "Have you made up your mind?"

I took a deep breath. "I'm not going to do it," I said.

She came to stand next to me and traced my jaw with her finger. "Well it's not really up to you, now is it? I'm the one who has the upper hand here." I flinched my head away but she only held it stronger and made me look at her.

I could see determination in her eyes. She was going to turn me, of that I was sure of. For what purpose, I didn't know. Feeling cornered and desperate I did the only thing I thought would get me killed instead of turned. I got her mad.

I smiled at her menacingly. "The only reason you have the upper hand is because you have me tied up. Let me go and see how well you would stand up to me."

"You think I'm scared of you?"

"I know you are, you chicken shit," I spat out. "That was probably the only way to kill Tatiana too. You attacked her when she was asleep."

She tightened her grip. "Don't call me that. And the way I killed her doesn't matter. What matters is that she's dead now."

"Why did you do it anyways?" I asked. "Couldn't you have found an easier way to get me away from Adrian?"

"You stupid blood whore," she said. "I didn't kill Tatiana just so I could frame you and get rid of you, that was just a perk. I killed Tatiana because I couldn't stand her. She took him away from me and she always treated me like if she were so much better than me." There was a faraway look on her face, like she was somewhere else rather than in this room. _She took him away from me. _What could she mean by that? "I couldn't stand her anymore," she finished.

"Him? Who did Tatiana steal from you?" I asked, curious to know who he was.

She looked back at me. "It doesn't matter who he is."

"Of course—"

"Enough," she said with a finality in her voice. "We will not talk of this anymore."

Another silence encircled us. Daniela looked like she was lost in thought and I found myself thinking of Dimitri. He had looked so worried and it brought up a memory of when we had been in Santa Cruz, looking for Lissa's brother. Strigoi had been on our trail, following us everywhere we went. A thought suddenly occurred to me. "Where you the one who kept sending those Strigoi after me?"

She smiled. "Yes, although they didn't succeed, those oafs. You were too close to the truth, I couldn't let you find out. But of course, you found out who Lissa's long lost brother was." She gave me a dark look. "You ruined everything."

"Ruin everything? All I did was find Lissa's brother and reunite them."

"Yes, but you also gave Vasilisa the chance at becoming queen, which of course she took up. Now everyone can live happily ever after." She seemed to reconsider that. "Well, except for you of course."

"How the hell did Lissa becoming queen ruin your stupid plan?" I was finding it hard to follow her plan.

"Let's just say that I have a Plan B," she said. "Enough of this chit chat. Have you made up your mind or not?"

I looked into her eyes and I could see that the determination was back in them. I had tried to get her mad but the conversation had steered in the wrong direction. Now I was going to have to try to get it back on track. Remember how mentioning Adrian had affected her earlier, I decided to use him as the bait.

"You want to know something? Adrian meant nothing to me. He was just a game for me, something I did to distract myself until I could get Dimitri back." I let out a humorless laugh. "You know he actually proposed? I actually considered accepting. I mean, why _wouldn't_ I? I could have had anything that I wanted with him. Just think of it, you would have had a _dhampir_ in your royal family. And lots of little dhampir grandchildren." Of course none of it was true; I had actually thought I could learn to love Adrian. But I was going to do whatever it took to get me killed.

So, I continued with my false rambling. "You want to know why I didn't accept to marry him other than waiting for Dimitri? Because who could love such a pathetic fool who drowns themselves in liquor and cigarettes day and night. God, I could barely stand being with him in the same room. He was like a little puppy dog, following me around everywhere and doing whatever I said. He is such a pathetic loser."

I could see the anger kindling in her eyes. It looked like a fire that would consume her. Next thing I knew, she had slapped me so hard across the face that I hear a loud crack and saw stars dance around my vision.

_This is it Rose,_ I thought. _Now you have to finish it. _

Right before I said my next words an old memory came back to me. It was from last summer when Dimitri and I had stayed with his family in Baia. We were about to leave when Yeva pulled me aside and told me some words that had both scared me and confused me.

"_You're afraid. Don't be. One is born to die. Do not fear death, you are tied to it. You must follow your destiny. Embrace it with all your might. Only then will you be free."_

Now I knew what she had meant by those words. I had always tried to escape it, but the reality was that death followed me. It was eager to get the soul that had escaped its grasp all those years ago. But now I understood what Yeva meant. Death was a part of me since I was shadow-kissed. Maybe this was my destiny, to live give up my life so that others could live. And if giving up my life would save the ones I loved, then I was glad to do it.

So taking a deep breath and remembering all the pleasant memories of my life I said, "I was only with Adrian because of his money and what his name could get me."

That was the breaking point for her. When those words left my mouth she leaned in with lighting speed and started drinking my blood.

My last thoughts before everything went black were: _Dimitri, Anya, Sasha, I love you. _

**Another cliff hanger, muahahaha! lol I had been long overdue for one of these big cliffhangers. **

**Maybe it's all the midterms I'm taking that are making me want to take out my frustration on someone else. Stupid tests. **

**Anyways, hope you guys liked the short chapter and dont forget to comment :D **


	24. Chapter 22

**Hola Amigos! Sorry for the lag time between posts! There was a bit of miscommunication between me and my beta so the chapter wasn't posted sooner. Hope you guys are all well and happy! As always, Richelle Mead owns!**

**Enjoy!**

**Daisy **

**Chapter 22**

_**DPOV**_

I was having a vivid dream where I was a cowboy riding on my brown mustang and wearing my duster. The evil bank owner, Tiny, had kidnapped the beautiful mayor's daughter from town. I had just saved the damsel in distress that looked an awful lot like Rose, when a baby's cry woke me up.

"I'll go Roza," I said. I turned around to give her a kiss only to have yesterday's memories come crashing down on me.

Rose was gone. _My Roza had been taken away from me._

I didn't have time to dwell on my pain because the baby started crying harder. Not wanting to wake up my family that was staying with me, I quickly got up and went to the nursery. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that everyone was asleep.

When I entered the room I quickly picked up Sasha who was crying. "What's wrong?" I asked him as I picked him up and rocked him back and forth. I looked at the clock and saw that it was time for his feeding. He had quieted down so I took him with me to the kitchen to prepare his bottle and Anya's who was bound to wake up soon.

When the bottles where done, I went back to the nursery and started feeding Sasha on the rocking chair. He greedily finished his bottle and fell asleep quickly after.

The simplicity of being a child, I thought. All they cared about was being fed and comforted. Silently I wished Rose was here to tell me everything was going to be okay.

"Stop moping around, Comrade," she'd say. "If you cheer up I'll let you tie me to the bed." Then she'd wink and give me one of her smiles that took my breath away.

A small sound escaped my lips, something between a sad chuckle and a sob. She could always manage to brighten up my day no matter what. I couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to her. I hadn't even realized that I was crying until a soft hand touched my cheek and wiped away the tears that had escaped. I looked up to see Mama standing there with a warm sympathetic look in her eyes.

"How are you doing Dimka?" she asked.

"Mama, what if something happens to her? What am I going to do? I can't live without her," I said holding back more tears.

"Dimka, I understand that you're worried for Rose's safety, but you have to keep it together. Whatever happens was meant to happen, you can't change that," she said as she gently rubbed my shoulder.

I didn't know what to say. I just couldn't accept that I had no control. I couldn't accept that I was practically a sitting duck. I felt restless. I had to do something to help. I couldn't just stay here doing nothing.

Mama put a hand on my shoulder. "Get some rest my son. I'll feed Anya."

"Its fine Mama, I'll do it," I said.

"No, I insist," she said. "Maybe some rest will get rid of that worried look that seems to have been etched into your face." I tried to smile but it probably came out as an awkward twitching of my lips.

Back in my own bed I waited for sleep to come and help me forget everything. When it finally came I gladly welcomed it.

"Dimitri, wake up!"

I felt someone shaking my arm and I immediately opened my eyes, alert to whatever danger there might be. Janine Hathaway stood looking over me.

I sat up straight. "Do we have news of where Rose is?" I asked anxiously. A glimmer of hope stirring in me.

She nodded. "Turns out Daniela has a house in the city that she bought not too long ago. It took us a long time to dig this up, though. Anyway, we are headed over to the house right now and I thought you might want to come."

"Of course," I said standing up. "I'll be ready in a minute." She nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her. In a flash I was dressed and ready to go. The ride over was pure agony. What if something happened to her? What if she was in pain? What if—no I couldn't even think of the last one.

"You okay?" asked Janine. I gave a slight nod without even looking at her."We tried everything," she said. "We even asked Adrian to do his dream walking and try to reach Rose but he wasn't able to reach her."

"Really?" I said turning to her. She nodded but said nothing else after that. This was news to me, but then again I hadn't been present in the guardian meetings. They had thought that I was too emotionally involved to actually be of any help to them, which was true.

When we arrived at the house I found it hard to move. The fear of what I could fine froze me in place. Janine noticed.

"Get it together Belikov," she said in a firm yet gentle tone. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. In truth, I didn't know how she could be so calm when it was her daughter that was in danger.

She looked at me with an empathetic look. "Whatever happens, we have to be strong. Especially you, who has those babies to take care of." At that moment when I looked at her, I saw all that she kept hidden. I could see it in her eyes that she was indeed in great pain over Rose's disappearance.

_For Rose,_ I thought. _I have to be strong for her. _

I took in a deep breath and found my voice. "Let's go."

Lissa had enlisted a large group of guardians for this raid. The group consisted of Janine, Eddie, Mikhail, myself and a few of the other good guardians. Only Janine and I got off while everyone else stayed in cars around the neighborhood. Janine and I each got earpieces so we could communicate with each other and the guardians that were keeping watch.

I felt my heart racing as we made our way into the dark house. Janine made some gestures signaling that she was going to take the top floor while I checked this floor and the basement. I walked silently through the rooms, each time holding my breath in anticipation of what I would find but coming up empty. And with each room I searched I felt my hopes of finding Rose fading away.

Finally the only room left was the basement. I made my way down the stairs and turned on my flashlight because it was really dark. The first thing I saw was a single chair in the middle of the room with ropes around it. I walked toward it and gently touched it. I could see there was blood splatters on the chair and ropes. Had she been tortured? I shuddered at the thought of that. I turned around to continue my search but froze in my tracks.

There was a body on the floor.

I felt my whole body go cold and numb.

_No,_ I thought. _She can't be dead. My Roza can't be dead._

"Clear," came Janine's voice from the earpiece. "Dimitri?" she said when I didn't answer. "Dimitri, are you there?"

"Janine, you should come down here. I'm in the basement," I said through the knot in my throat.

In a matter of seconds she was beside me. "Oh god," she gasped. "Is—is that Rose?"

I shook my head. "I don't know, I haven't checked."

We both stood there in silence, neither of us daring to move or say anything. I took a deep breath and decided to go check the body. I approached it and crouched down beside it. Slowly, I reached out and with my shaking hand pulled back the dark hair from the face, expecting it to be Rose. When I took in all the features I let out a sigh of relief. I wasn't Rose.

"Is it her?"asked Janine silently behind me.

I shook my head. She too let out a sigh of relief and came to crouch beside me. "It's Meredith," she said. "She's also been missing since your wedding."

I pulled back her hair from her neck to reveal two puncture marks. "She was drained of her blood," I said.

"Who—" Janine was interrupted by a voice that came across both our earpieces.

It was Mikhail. "Rose has just gone into the house and she was accompanied by a man," he said.

A man? "Are you sure?" I said.

"Yes I'm sure," he responded. "And it didn't look like he was holding her against her will."

Janine and I stood up and made our way inside to look for Rose. We didn't have to look much because we found her on the couch of the living room on top of the man Mikhail had spoken of. What was she doing? Was she kissing him? Had she left me on our wedding day for him?

"Rose?" I whispered.

Her head snapped up and I took in her features: her pale skin so unlike her usual olive tanned complexion, the blood dripping from her mouth and sharp teeth, and finally her beautiful brown eyes that were now ringed in red.

She was a Strigoi.

_**RPOV**_

When I opened my eyes, I felt different. Everything _looked_ different. It was as if my eyes had been replaced by magnifying glasses. Everything was so clear and I could see up to the tiniest detail in everything.

I was in the same room I had been in before, the basement, but there was no Daniela in sight. I was considering my chances of escaping when everything started rushing back to me.

Daniela hadn't killed me, she'd _turned_ me.

I was expecting the feelings to rush to me, but nothing came. I was empty. I didn't feel anything.

Daniela came in then. "What did you do?" I snarled at her.

"What, no thank you?" she said with mock hurt.

"I told you not to turn me. I told you to _kill_ me." My voice sounded cold, fierce and frightening. I almost didn't recognize it.

What looked like fear crossed her features but then was gone. "You were of better use to me as a Strigoi than a dead body."

"And what makes you think I'm going to do what you say?" I replied.

"Because your family is still under death threat." She watched me closely to see if this would have any effect on me. "Dimitri, Lissa, your children, your mother…" she continued.

The mention of them slightly stirred up buried feelings, but I didn't feel much. It felt like lave moving hundreds of feet beneath the ground. So her trick to emotionally manipulate me failed. Didn't she know I didn't have any emotions left?

"And what makes you think I care?" I told her with a blank face. We stood there looking at each other without saying anything. If someone had walked in then, it would have looked as if we were having a staring contest.

"Fine," she said at last. "Just help me out and I'll owe you a favor."

I considered this. It might be true that I was close to indestructible, but having an ally or pending favor couldn't hurt.

"Fine," I said.

She smiled her now usual evil smile. "Good. It won't be long until the sun the sun goes down. Then we can go _hunt,_" she said with an enthusiasm I had never thought possible for Strigoi.

_I'm Strigoi,_ I thought to myself.

Instead of the fear I had before, I felt powerful, strong and confident. Like I could take on the whole world and succeed.

Thoughts about Dimitri and my family would pop up randomly but I would promptly push them aside, not wanting to remember my old life. I had thought that Strigoi had no feelings, but when I thought of my family I found that they stirred up that lava deep down inside. Which I found preposterous since I wasn't supposed to have any feelings. More strangely, I still felt like myself, of course just with all the perks of invincibility. I had to admit it, it felt great. I felt like I could jump off a building and fly. Dimitri and Daniela had been right, I_ had_ been missing out.

The time passed nondescriptly, and I found myself become more and more anxious for the hunt. I wondered if this was how Moroi felt when they hadn't eaten in a while. I could feel my hunger growing with each second. It felt like a fire that was consuming my insides.

I managed to distract myself for a little bit while I chose what to wear. If we were going hunting, I had to change out of my wedding dress. How strange would I look walking down the street randomly wearing a wedding dress? Not that I cared, I could break anyone's neck in a blink of an eye and without second thought. However, at least Daniela had had the sense to bring some clothes for me.

The house Daniela and I were in had heavily tinted windows that blocked out the sun and allowed us to roam inside. It was two stories high with an attic and basement where I had been held. To anyone else it would have looked beautiful with all the decorations, but I didn't care much for it. The house was just a place where I could hide from the sun.

I tried watching TV to pass the time but it held no interest for me. I had said this once, and I would probably always say it: night television sucked. There was mostly infomercials on all channels with people trying to sell you stuff.

"What are we supposed to do when the sun is up?" I asked Daniela when I grew inpatient.

She didn't even look up from the notebook she was writing in. "Whatever you want, just be quiet and don't bother me."

Did she just tell me to shut up? Suddenly fuming with anger I flew from my chair and pinned her against the wall. "What did you just say?" I said in an ice cold voice.

Immediately she looked like she regretted what she had told me. "N-nothing," she stuttered.

"Don't you _ever_ dare tell me what to do," I told her. She nodded and I released her from my grip, pleased to see how much control I had over her. "How much longer until the sun is fully down?"

She looked down at a watch that she had on. "It's gone now. We can hunt now…if you'd like."

A smile crept on my face. "Let's go hunt."

The air outside was crisp and cool, brushing against my cheeks as I walked outside. I was still getting used to the way everything looked and felt. When I looked at plants I could almost see every particle that made up the plant.

"Where are we going?" I asked Daniela.

"The best place to get fresh, young, healthy blood," she said. "A night club." At the mention of blood I could already feel my mouth start to water.

In a matter of minutes we were at a nightclub filled with sweaty bodies dancing to the music and rubbing against each other. With my good looks and attractive body, it was almost too easy to weave guys into my web. Before long a cute guy came to stand next to me at the bar.

"Let me buy you a drink," he said. I could see the blood pumping through his veins in a steady rhythm. His heart rate accelerated when I didn't answer right away.

I gave him one of my man eating smiles. "Sure." Immediately he relaxed.

"So, you from around here?" he asked.

"No I'm from Missoula, Montana."

"What are you doing all the way over here?"

"Work," I stated simply. An answer acceptable for anyone.

He nodded and took a sip of his drink. My drink had also arrived but it held no interest for me. I didn't even know if my body would process regular food and liquids.

There was a small silence where he observed me from head to toe. With each second that passed I could feel my hunger grow more and more. Now I was just urgent to get him out of there and back to the house where I could drain him of all his blood.

I was about to speak but he beat me to it. "Those are some interesting contacts you got on," he said gesturing to my eyes. Contacts? Then I remembered what he would be seeing: a ring of red around my iris.

"Yeah, contacts…," I said. "Do you like them?"

"I like _all_ of you," he said with a cocky grin. Here was my chance to reel him in.

"Yeah? Why don't we go somewhere quieter, like my house where you can see the rest of me?" I suggested. I threw him another of my inviting smiles to finish the job.

I saw anticipation shine in his eyes and knew I had him. "Of course. Come on, I've got a car." Score. As we made our way out I tried looking for Daniela but to no avail.

_She better not be waiting at the house to take my food_, I thought.

He had a nice Saturn. His back seat was littered with textbooks and notebooks, making me think that he was probably a college student.

"Sorry for the mess," he told me when he noticed me looking at the books.

"Not a problem," I said as I got into the car.

Once we were inside the car, his scent became unbearable. I wanted to drink every last drop of his blood right then and there, I ran my tongue over sharp teeth as my mouth watered.

_I should just do it now_, I thought. _I won't make it to the house_.

Then I remember what Daniela had told me, to not do it in public. She wanted to stay as inconspicuous as possible. It had something to do with her plan that she still hadn't told me all the details of. I actually didn't care much about her plan as long as she didn't get me too involved.

"Where do you live?" asked—wait, I didn't even know his name.

_All the better_, I thought. That way I can just kill him without being encumbered by his individual personality. I told him where to go and we didn't speak much until we were at a stop light and he noticed my wedding ring.

A surprised look crossed his face. "You're married?" he asked.

"No, I—" Was I still married? Technically I was dead, or was I? Either way, it wasn't like I could go waltzing back to Dimitri and my old life. "It's over," I finally said.

At that point we made it to the house and not a minute too soon. Daniela had left the door unlocked and we easily made our way inside. Once inside I wasted no time. I pushed him onto the couch and straddled his hips. He was caught by surprise but I could tell he enjoyed it. I lowered my mouth to his neck and as he let out a moan of pleasure I felt his warm and sweet blood glide down my throat.

My bliss was interrupted by a voice I could recognize anywhere. "Rose?"

I looked up to see Dimitri and Janine standing before me.

* * *

**OMD Rose is Strigoi. What will happen now?**

**Who knows actaully, anything can happen in my jungle of a brain lol**

**BTW have u guys heard the song "Rasputin" by Boney M? I heard it on Just Dance 2 and I liked it :)**

**Oh guys I've been thinking about starting another story after I finish this one since this one is close to being done. Any suggestions on what I should write it about? Feel free to leave any ideas!**

**Anyways, hope u guys liked the chapter!**

**Till next time!**


	25. Chapter 23

**Hey guys, sorry for that reeeeally long break. What was it, like 5 months? Yeah I can only blame that on college and life. Lol Anyway this is the last chapter of the story and I am glad I can say that I actually finished the story. Thanks to all the readers who stuck with me up until my 5 month break. I really appreciated your guys' comments and reviews. And thanks to my beta Maribel who always had great ideas to add to the story.**

**~Daisy (^_^)**

**Chapter 23**

_**RPOV**_

Dimitri and my mother stood there staring at me like if I was a headless body. I could see the shock clearly on their faces.

"Like my makeover?" I said as I wiped the blood away from my mouth. The guy lay on the couch motionless.

"Rose?" Dimitri's voice came out in a whisper. He couldn't believe what he was seeing as he looked from the guy on the couch to me.

"How could you?" demanded my mother. "How could you do this to your family, to your friends, _to your_ _children."_ I could hear the scorn and accusation in her voice. But of course, I never managed to live up to her expectations.

"Oh, like you were such an exemplary mother?" I spat back. "And if you must know, I didn't do this willingly. Daniela turned me against my will. It doesn't matter though, it feels amazing. I have so much power in me." I extended my arm out and looked at it, as if the power was visible in my hands. I turned to Dimitri. "You were right," I told him "I should have joined you when I had the chance."

He shook his head. "No Roza, you don't want this kind of…life. It isn't even a life Rose. You shouldn't exist, not like this."

"So what? You'd rather I was dead?" I asked incredulous.

He swallowed. "I'd rather you were dead than like this," he said. I could see the pain that it caused him to say that. "I made you a promise once, and I'm going to keep it." With that he launched at me.

He threw a punch that I easily blocked. Our fight reminded me a lot of when we used to train together. We knew each other well enough to know what to expect next. I had to hand it to Dimitri, he was giving me a run for my money.

Just as I was starting to wonder where my mother was, I felt her attack me from behind. I'll admit it, her punch was hard. It managed to distract me long enough for Dimitri to get in a powerful hit, but that only made me angry. I turned around and hit my mother so hard that I sent her flying across the room. She crashed against a bookshelf and fell on a heap on the floor.

I turned back to Dimitri who was already preparing his next attack. We sparred for a while longer until I managed to get the upper hand and knock him off his feet. I got on top of him and without missing a beat I sank my fangs into the soft flesh of his neck.

His blood was sweet and warm, the best I had ever had. I could only describe it as pure bliss as I drank him in. I faintly heard his moans of pleasure for I was too consumed in my own world. I was so consumed that I did not pay attention to my surroundings and did not notice the approaching guardians. They hit my back and broke me out of my reverie. Leaving Dimitri on the floor, I turned on them. It was easy to take out the two guardians that I didn't know. But Mikhail, he was harder to take out.

I could see it in his eyes, the same shock that Dimitri and my mother had had at seeing me like this. I probably reminded him of his precious Sonya. He was a good fighter, but in the end I won as he lay on the floor unconscious. I stood up and looked around the room, at all the unconscious bodies lying on the floor. I wasn't sure if any of them were dead, but I was sure that they were all seriously injured.

Just then I saw Daniela pop out from behind a corner. "Come on!" she urged me. "More are on their way!"

"Have you been there the whole damn time?" I yelled. "Why didn't you help me?"

"I barely came in," she said. "I heard that Mikhail guardian call for back up. Now hurry up and let's go."

I took one last look at Dimitri and left without looking back.

_**DPOV**_

I was riding a horse. A beautiful black Capricornia that had a coat that shined in the sunshine and looked almost blue when the rays of sun hit it. I looked ahead of me and I could clearly see evil Tiny, the man who had a damsel against her will. It was actually a ridiculous name to call him seeing as how he was a robust man with a considerable circumference.

I was catching up to him fast, I could see the pattern on his saddle now. "Give up while you can!" I told him.

He gave a boisterous laugh. "You'll never catch me!"

I was next to him now and I could see that he was starting to panic. I looked behind him where he had the young woman. Her hands were tied behind her back and she had a gag in her mouth. Her eyes were full of fear but as soon as she saw me her features were overtaken with trust and hope. She was truly beautiful, the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.

I reached out to her. I had a hold of her waist and I was about to grab her when I was snapped out of my dream. I sat up and stared at the wall in front of me, my heart racing. I looked next to me at the empty space on the bed. _Rose._ I had been dreaming of Rose again. The same dream that reoccurred every night; I would be riding my horse trying to catch Tiny and just when I thought I had a hold on Rose she would slip away from under my fingertips. She haunted my every waking thought and dream. At least this time it hadn't been a nightmare.

A cry came out of the baby monitor, reminding me why I had been awoken. I made my way into the nursery and found baby Sasha crying in his crib. I looked at the clock on the wall and realized that it was time for their feeding. I went to the kitchen and after heating up their bottles I went back to the nursery. On top of the dresser there was a small carousel in between a delicate Faberge egg. It had been a gift from Lissa, and it played a soothing Russian folk song that I remembered my mother humming to me as a child. I twisted the crank and let the music fill the room as I fed the twins and rocked them back to sleep.

Time passed and I didn't know I had fallen asleep until I was awoken by a knocking on my front door. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and went to see who it was. I opened my door to reveal Tasha.

She smiled at me. "Dimka! Did I wake you?"

"No, don't worry," I said. "I feel asleep in the twins' nursery after feeding them in the early morning." I stepped aside. "Come on in."

After making coffee for the both of us, we sat down in the living room. We were quietly sipping our coffee until Tasha broke the silence.

"How are you doing?" I could see her piercing blue eyes looking at me with concern.

"I'm hanging in there, I guess," I said. How could I explain it to her? How could she understand the pain that I was feeling at losing my other half, my soul mate.

She reached out and placed her hand on top of mine. "Don't you think it's time to move on? You have to accept that she's gone."

"She's not dead, Tasha," I said, maybe a little harsher than I intended it to sound.

"I know, but it's not like you're going to be getting back together with her any time soon. Not now, not ever. You're going to have to move on sometime, Dimitri."

I took a deep breath and looked at her in the eyes. "I don't know if I can move on. I don't know if I will ever be able to love someone like I loved her. It wouldn't be fair to the person, I wouldn't be able to give them all of my love." I pleaded at her with my eyes, pleaded that she understand what I was trying to tell her. "When I saw her, a part of me died. You don't know how it feels to see the love of your life as the thing you despise the most on earth."

Now she grabbed both of my hands with hers, our cups of coffee long since forgotten on the table. "Dimitri I—"

She was interrupted by a knocking on the front door. "Ms. Ozera, we should get going or you will be late."

"Coming Sergei," she said loud enough for him to hear and turned back to me. "Please just try to be happy. You don't have to move on right now, but I just can't stand to see you in so much pain. I know you try to put on a façade for everyone, but we can all see past it. The pain is clearly written on your face."

Was that really how I looked to everyone? I wouldn't know, I avoided looking in mirrors, probably because I already knew how horrifying I looked.

"Take care," Tasha said before leaving my apartment.

The day passed by uneventful. After Rose had turned, I had taken an indefinite time off work. I couldn't work properly as a guardian if my mind was off with Rose where ever she was. So I stayed home with my twins, going out once in a while so that they could get some fresh air.

My mother, sisters and babushka had left back to Russia. It had been nice to have them at home but Viktoria had to go back because of school. I couldn't ask them to pause their lives just for me.

In the evening Lissa and Christian stopped by and it wasn't a casual visit. I could tell by the way they acted. They seemed nervous and…excited? No, that couldn't be right.

"How are you doing Dimitri?" asked Lissa. It seemed to be a popular question today.

"Good," I responded.

She gave me a good long look, probably seeing past that façade that Tasha said everyone could see past. "How are you really doing?"

"Really? The same as all the other days. She haunts me, her memories haunt me. Everything reminds me of her and truthfully, I don't know how I don't go crazy in this house," I admitted.

"What if we could get her back?" she said.

My head snapped up. "We can't get her back Lissa, she's…we can't get her back," I said.

She looked pointedly at me. "But Dimitri, I've already done it once."

Realization hit me as I understood what she was saying. She wanted to turn Rose back. I shook my head. "No," I said. "I can't let you do that."

"Well I'm not asking for your permission," she stated.

"Lissa, you can't endanger yourself. Our people can't lose another queen in such a short period of time. They need guidance, your guidance." I hoped I could make her understand how much her safety was important.

"Yes, I understand," she said. "But isn't my happiness important too? You're not the only one in pain here, Dimitri. I miss her just as much as you do. She's my best friend. She's like my sister, the only family I have left." Her eyes had filled with tears and I could see that the loss of Rose had hit her just as much as it had affected me. Rose and Lissa had been best friends since grade school and they had built a bond that not everyone is lucky enough to have. Not to mention that they had the psychic bond that connected them and allowed Rose to see into Lissa's mind.

"How are we even supposed to find her?" I asked. "It's not like you can take time off and I can't leave my twins alone."

"Well reports have been trickling down to me," she said. "I've been hearing of more Strigoi activity in town and I've heard a few accounts of Rose's presence."

"She's here?" I said incredulously. I couldn't believe she had stayed so close to home. When I was turned I had fled to my home country of Russia, seeking to escape my old life. To hear that she was so close to me made me feel anxious.

"What do you need me to do?" I asked after a while.

"We need you there as back-up," said Christian who until then I had forgotten was there. "In case things go…awry."

They wanted me there as a safety net in case things went wrong. If something happened, I would be the one taking out Rose. And who better to do it than the person who had promised her they would do it if she ever turned into a Strigoi?

I nodded slowly in agreement. "Okay."

Lissa gave me a small smile. "Don't worry, everything will go fine."

I hoped so, otherwise I would find myself killing my other half.

_**RPOV**_

It felt amazing as his life drained into me. With every gulp that I took I felt his heartbeat become fainter. It always exhilarated me when I felt the life my victim pour into me. And this one was particularly tasty, making the experience that much better. His blood reminded me faintly of cinnamon and something sweet. When I was certain I had drained every drop of him I let him fall to the floor. His body hit the floor with a muffled thud.

The trees swayed with the wind, reminding me of dancers. I closed my eyes and felt the wind play with a loose strand of my hair. I liked to come to this park at night. It was always calm and it had colorful flowers that stayed open during the night. They were interesting to look at, seeing as how I couldn't go out in the sunlight. I guess you could say that I missed the sun, it was probably the only thing I wanted back from my old life. Well, that and maybe a certain someone who likes to wear dusters…

"Are you done?" came a voice from behind me. I turned around to see Daniela standing by a fountain of three dolphins. Water spurted from their mouths and trickled down their bodies. It reminded me of a long ago dream that I had as a kid to go to Sea World.

"Obviously," I stated slightly annoyed. "Haven't I told you I don't like you watching me when I feed?"

"Y-yes, I know," she stammered. "I wasn't watching, I just—"

I put up a hand, effectively cutting her off. "Whatever. What do you want?"

"The others were wondering if you were done. They are all waiting for you," she said.

Over the past few months I had become the leader of the Strigoi in the area. They all feared me and did as I said, otherwise they knew what would happen. My rise to power actually reminded me of when Dimitri had been a Strigoi. He too had risen to power in a short period of time. This was almost unheard of amongst the Strigoi, but then again, Dimitri and I had been feared even when we were simply dhampirs.

"When do we strike?" asked Daniela.

"How many times must you repeat that question Daniela?" I asked annoyed. Most of the time she reminded me of both a pestering fly and a power hungry weasel. "The perfect time to strike is almost near. Lissa's birthday is approaching and she will have a grand party. And what better time to attack the court than when all the royals will be present?"

"Yes that will be perfect," said Daniela with a devilish grin that then disappeared. "Wait, how do you know this?"

"I still have my bond with her," I said. "It comes in very useful, wouldn't you say?"

She nodded. "Very."

"We should get going," I said. "We need to start finalizing the plan so that we are ready when the time comes."

Soon things were going to change. The Moroi, dhampir and Strigoi would have a new Queen. Soon I would have my Dimitri back.

_**DPOV**_

_1 Month Later_

I loved my twins, but changing diapers was not my favorite thing to do. I wrinkled my nose as I unwrapped an especially smelly diaper from Anya. She lay there moving her arms and legs and looking at me with her wondrous gray eyes. I wondered what was going on inside her little head. Was she thinking about Rose? Did she miss her just as much as I did? Did she even realize that her mother was missing?

I smiled at her and finished changing her diaper before taking her back with me to the living room where Lissa and Christian sat on the floor with Sasha. Christian had become Lissa's sidekick, always at her side where ever she went.

I was still not working as a guardian, wanting to spend as much time with my twins as possible. Every day I felt them getting bigger and coming into their own personalities. Sasha was loud and always wanted attention (much like his mother) and Anya was more quiet and calm (just like her Daddy).

"Right Dimitri?" I looked up and noticed that Lissa had been talking to me.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

She looked at me meaningfully. "I said, you are coming to my birthday party, right?"

Right. Her birthday party was in three days' time. She had told me about it a while back but I had forgotten, probably on purpose. Parties meant socializing with people and pretending you were happy. I wasn't sure if I had the strength to do it. I would much rather stay at home with the twins and watch a western movie.

"I'll think about it" I said.

Christian smirked. "Coming from you, that means you've already made up your mind and you're not going but you're too nice to say it"

Lissa looked at me with pleading eyes. "It would mean so much to me if you were there Dimitri. You and Christian are the closest thing I have to a family and with Rose gone…"

I sighed. "Fine, I'll go." But I couldn't promise her that I would enjoy it.

She smiled brightly. "Thank you! You don't know how happy it makes me." She looked down at her watch and stood up. "I should be going, I have some last minute party details to attend to." She gave me a hug and left with Christian in tow.

_3 Days Later_

I stood in front of the mirror wearing a tuxedo, a gift from Lissa who had insisted that I accept. I looked at my reflection on the mirror. I had lost weight and my cheek bones were more prominent, there were dark circles under my eyes (thanks to terrible nightmares and Sasha's cold), and my eyes looked haunted with memoires and shadows of my past. I hadn't realized it, but I looked miserable. Is this how everyone saw me? No wonder they always looked worried for me.

Three short knocks on the door pulled me out of my thoughts. I opened the door to find Tasha in a blue dress that hugged her body and made her eyes stand out.

"You look beautiful Tasha," I said.

She gave me a big brilliant smile that made me think that comment had meant more to her than I had intended. "You don't look too bad yourself, Dimka. You clean up nice."

We waited in the apartment until the babysitter came before leaving to the party. She was a middle aged Moroi woman named Laura with graying hair. I made her promise to call me in case anything happened.

The party turned out to be alright. I spent most of it with Tasha, dancing, talking to people (well she did most of the talking), and just reminiscing on old times. It was about halfway through the party and I was dancing with Lissa when a screeching noise started blaring around the room. I was confused for a moment before realizing that it was the security alarm. Something serious must have happened because this was the alarm with the red flashing lights, indicating that there was serious trouble.

I felt Lissa tense up in my arms, realizing at the same time as me what the alarm meant. My guardian instincts kicked in at that moment and I thought only of protecting Lissa.

"Stay with me," I said as I lead her through the growing crowd of panicking people.

I knew that to keep her safe I had to find her other guardians. They would know what to do, they had been trained in case of such an emergency. I had had the training long ago but it was still best to find her assigned guardians.

"Do you see any of your guardians?" I asked her. We both craned our necks looking for the red suits that indicated the royal guard. Just then to the right I saw them as they made their way toward us.

"We can take it from here, Belikov," said the one in the front. He looked familiar but I couldn't think of his name at that moment. I nodded and released Lissa to them.

"Dimitri go get the twins and hurry back to the safe hall. Go!" she urged me.

I immediately took out my phone and called Laura as I made my way to the apartment. The phone rang once, twice, three times. She wasn't picking up.

I saw Eddie running past me and I stopped him. "What's going on?" I asked him.

"We've been infiltrated! Strigoi have broken into the court. Get your kids and go to the safe hall!" And with that he left.

I stood there only for a second, paralyzed, and then started sprinting as fast as I could to my twins. I tried calling Laura again but she didn't pick up. What was going on?

I finally got to the apartment and burst in through the door. I found Laura in the twins' room trying to quiet them down. Relief flooded me at seeing that they were okay.

"Why didn't you pick up?" I said out of breath.

"Sorry, I couldn't get to the phone. They were crying so much. I think the alarm really startled them," she said.

"It's okay, just help me get them ready so we can take them to the safe hall," I said, already taking ahold of Anya and putting some warm footies on her. We hurried out of there in record time, making a beeline for the safe hall.

When we got there it was filled with people. I looked for a familiar face and found Tasha's anxious one. "What's wrong?" I asked, dread filling me to the bone.

"I can't find Christian anywhere," she said. "And Lissa is missing too."

"What do you mean Lissa's missing? I left her with the royal guard!" How could this be happening?

"She was with them, but then there was a large explosion and then she wasn't there anymore." Her eyes looked frantic and worried.

"Don't worry," I told her. "I'll go look for them." I turned to go but stopped when she grabbed my hand.

"Be careful," she said before giving my hand a squeeze and then releasing it.

I made my way through the crowded room until I got outside. It looked desolate and empty without anyone there except for guardians that passed by running.

Where could they be? I asked myself. Because surely if they were both missing then they had to be together. Then a sudden thought froze me in place. I remembered the conversation we had had a few weeks ago, where Lissa told me that she wanted to turn Rose back. What if Rose was here? What if they were looking for her?

"Dimitri." A voice came from behind me. I didn't have to turn around to know who it came from. I slowly turned and saw Rose standing there. My Roza. My breath hitched and sped up along with my heart rate. My Roza was standing in front of me.

_No,_ a voice said in my head. _She's not your Roza anymore, she's a Strigoi. She's pure evil._

"Aren't you going to say anything? We haven't seen each other in a long time," she said. Her voice was cold, emotionless, but it still sounded like her.

"What are you doing?" I managed to ask.

"Isn't it obvious?" she said. She extended her arms out on either side of her. "I'm taking over."

"What about Lissa?" I said.

"Lissa?" she scoffed. "What about her?"

"She's your best friend." _What am I doing?_ I thought. _I can't change her mind. _

"She's not my friend," Rose sneered.

"She still considers you her friend." _Stop it,_ I thought. _Stop trying to put if off. You need to do this and save her soul, so she can be happy._

"Join me."

I was brought out of my internal conflict by her sudden request. "What?"

"I said join me. You asked me to join you once and I was stupid enough to refuse. Now I'm giving you the chance you wanted. We can be together forever." She looked at me unwaveringly with her hand extended out to me.

Join her? I thought it ludicrous that she would ask me when she knew I would refuse. But I couldn't deny that there was a certain appeal to it, to be with her for the rest of eternity. But then I thought of the twins, my beautiful baby twins. I couldn't leave them without any parents at all.

"Rose you—" I didn't get to finish because I was interrupted by a shout.

"Dimitri move!" It was Christian followed closely behind by Lissa.

As soon as I stepped out of the way, Rose burst into flames. Her blood curdling cries filled my ears and I wanted nothing more than to make the pain stop.

"Remember our plan," said Lissa. "If I can't do this, you're going to have to finish it." I could see the pain it cause her to admit that there was a possibility that something could go wrong. I nodded in agreement.

Lissa ran forward with the stake held high above her head and rammed it into the middle of Rose's chest. If possible, Rose let out an even more earsplitting cry. Enchanted, I watched as a blinding white light emanated from Rose. A light that was so bright I had to shield my eyes. When I looked back Rose lay in a heap on the floor.

I ran and fell on my knees in front of her. She had sat up now and stared at me with her warm brown eyes without the red ring around them.

"Roza." Her name escaped my lips like a soft caress.

"Dimitri," she said before clinging to me like if I was her lifesaver keeping her afloat.

As her tears soaked through the fabric of my shirt and I lost myself in the feel of her long, silky dark hair, I could think only one thing: I finally had my Roza back.

I slowly but cautiously made my way back to the safe hall with Rose, Lissa and Christian. As soon as we entered, Lissa was surrounded by her royal guard who asked her if she was okay.

"I'm fine, really Gergon," she said.

"Please, you mustn't deviate from us again. Especially during an emergency such as this," he said.

"I understand. Now tell me Gergon, what is the status of the court?"

"We have managed to get a good grip on securing the surroundings of the court. Plus the Strigoi are retreating and I don't know why because it isn't close to sunrise."

Lissa and Christian remained talking to Gergon while I led Rose back to Tasha and the twins. She still clung to my arm like a scared toddler, silently shedding tears. When we approached Tasha, she seemed shocked to see Rose, undoubtedly never imagining that I would return with her.

Her eyes widened and she stood up. "Rose…"

Rose just stood there without responding. I knew what she was going through. It felt like just yesterday that I had been turned back. Everything starts rushing back to you, all the pain and death that you've caused. In a time like this all you need is someone to support you.

"Come on," I said as I pulled her toward the chair that Tasha had vacated. I offered her the chair but she decided to sit on the floor instead, and seeing as how she was still clutching my arm, I sat on the chair next to her. In front of us were the twins, sound asleep in their baby carriers. I thought that maybe seeing them would help her, but Rose just sat there staring off into space.

"Dimitri, how is…how is she back?" asked Tasha. "I thought she was a Strigoi."

"She was," I said. "But she was restored, just like I was." I looked at her intently. There was a small smile on her lips, indicating that she was happy, but there was also a hint of sadness. "Thank you," I told her.

She looked at me puzzled. "Why?"

"For being there for me when I needed it the most. You may not realize it, but your presence did help me," I told her.

She nodded and said, "I'll always be there for you Dimka," before leaving.

A couple of hours later they let everyone go back to their homes. It was daylight outside now, ensuring that the Strigoi would stay away. People had been stopping by to see Rose, Adrian and Sydney among them. Although they claimed they weren't dating it was obvious to everyone that something more existed between them.

I had thought that with having a previous dhampir restored the guardians would know what to expect, but they acted almost the same way they had with me. They questioned Rose who reluctantly answered back, wanting to be alone and away from everyone. Only when Lissa had insisted that they let us go, were we able to leave.

When we reached the apartment, I took Rose to our bedroom and told her to rest while I fed and put the twins to sleep. It didn't take long for me accomplish the task. They were up past their usual bedtime, after all. It only took a warm bottle of milk and a little rocking on the rocking chair and they were fast asleep.

I walked back into the room to find Rose in the fetal position on the bed. She was blankly staring at the window, the tracks of her tears dried on her face. It hurt me so much to see her like this, especially knowing how it felt like to be in her position.

"Rose…" I slowly approached the bed and kneeled in front of her. "Roza?"

She abruptly turned away from the wall to look at me. "Don't call me that."

I sat on the edge of the bed next to her. "Roza? Why don't you want me to call you that?"

"Because," she said. "That name is beautiful and represents something I no longer am." Her voice sounded cold, but underneath it I could hear her sadness and desperation.

"Don't say that," I pleaded while taking a hold of her hands. "You're still you. Somewhere in there is the Rose that I know and love." I searched her eyes for a sign that I was reaching her.

"She's not here anymore." Her voice sounded resigned and sad at the same time.

I cupped her face with my hands. "Rose listen I know what you're going through. I've been through it and you helped me. Now let me help you," I pleaded.

She shook her head. "Why not?" I asked.

"I'm not good anymore."

"Don't say that. You found the good in me and now I'm going to help you find the good in yourself," I said sternly.

Tears were running freely down her cheeks now. She shook her head which made it seem like I was moving her head. "Why won't you let me?" I said, almost close to shouting. Sometimes, no, most of the time she was the most stubborn person I knew.

"You're not bad, Rose, I know you're not," I continued.

"You're not the one who devised a whole plan to get your best friend killed so you could take her spot!" she shouted.

I sat there dumbstruck, the realization that today's attack had been led by Rose hitting me like a bucket of cold water. Finally I said, "I didn't try to kill my best friend, but I did try to kill the love of my life."

We just sat there staring at each other, neither of us moving or braking eye contact. "At least you had a reason," I added. She stared at me before the corners of her mouth lifted up slightly. I smiled back at her and wiped the tears away from her cheeks. It felt so much better to see her like this, somewhat like her usual self. I would have lived a thousand years just to see her smile again.

I rested my forehead against hers and looked straight into her eyes. "Will you let me help you? I need you," I said.

She nodded her head slowly. "Okay," she whispered.

I smiled at her and closed the short distance between our lips. It was a small feathery kiss that I had been dying to give her since the moment I saw her again. She didn't react at first, but then her lips started moving urgently against mine.

A small moan escaped my lips. "I missed you so much," I said.

"I missed you too."

_**RPOV**_

_4 Years Later_

I dug my toes deeper in the ground, loving how the warm sand felt against my feet. There was a slight breeze faintly smelling of salt and sea, which ruffled my hair against my chin. I closed my eyes and let my senses take over. _I could spend the whole day out here,_ I thought to myself.

"Mommy, are you sleeping?" came a little voice beside me that was promptly followed by little hands tapping my face.

I opened my eyes. Sasha stood in front of me in his shorts and t-shirt. His hair was as long as Dimitri's though I sometimes argued that he would look like a girl if we let it grow any longer.

"What do you need, baby?"

"Daddy said to come inside. He said they're almost here." He looked at me with those big gray eyes that were oh so good at melting me.

"Where is your sister?" I said

"She's in the kitchen with daddy," he said, pointing his chubby little hand at the house.

"Want to race back to the house?" The words had barely left my lips when he was already on his way. "I'm going to catch you!" I yelled as I raced after him. He let out a cry of joy and surprise as I reached him and scooped him up into my arms. I filled his face with kisses until we reached the house.

My father had kindly given Dimitri and me the beach house in Santa Cruz as a wedding gift. It had been hard, but Dimitri and I had decided to move out here away from the world of vampires. At least until the twins were old enough to go off to an academy. I didn't want to be the kind of mother that I had criticized Janine for being.

As soon as I slid the living room door open, Adrian's usual playful voice came through. "What, no kisses for me?"

"I don't think Sydney would appreciate that very much," I said.

He put an arm around her. "Nah, Syd wouldn't mind."

She lifted up an eyebrow. "Don't be so sure," she said

"Well, I don't think Lissa would mind," said Christian as he came into the room.

"Oh shut it fire boy," I said as I spotted Lissa next to him and encircled her in a tight hug, which was kind of hard seeing as how her belly seemed like was about to pop. "I still don't see how you guys managed to make this little guy when Lissa is always busy."

"Look who's talking," Christian said. "You guys aren't wasting much time are you?"

I looked down and rested my hand on my small baby bump. Baby number three. "Hey," I said. "We took a three year break."

"What a long break it must have been for you," he said.

"When are we going to have our own little tyke?" Adrian spoke to Sydney who responded with a slightly frightened look.

I just shook my head and hugged everyone before we settled down for the dinner Dimitri had prepared. We all headed to the dining room and sat down to eat. We shared stories and memories that made us laugh and tear up. Looking around the table at all the happy faces, I realized something. The family I had never had surrounded me now and it filled me with an unimaginable happiness that could not be put into words. I caught Dimitri's eye and give him a radiant smile that he returned. Everything in my life was now as it should be.

At least for the moment.

The End…


End file.
